Discuss the pricing of drugs in the United States and its effect on health care expenses.

What will be an ideal response?


Answers will vary. Unlike other countries where the government sets a national price for each drug, the United States lets pharmaceutical companies set the prices. Congressional lawmakers-heavily lobbied by the pharmaceutical industry, the American Hospital Association, and other groups-have forbidden Medicare, the nation's largest medical insurer and the world's largest buyer of prescription drugs, to negotiate drug prices or the cost of health products. Thus, for example, the price of EpiPen, a lifesaving injection for severe allergic reactions, jumped more than 400 percent-from $94 to $609-after a pharmaceutical company acquired the drug. A drug that cures Hepatitis C, a liver disease, costs just $4 a pill in India, compared with $1,000 in the United States (Agorist, 2016; Atwater, 2016).

Sociology

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The leading cause of death in the United States is __________

A) diabetes B) heart disease C) stroke D) cancer

Sociology

Troublesome and fearful aspects of relationships:

A) were reported by a few people when asked about their relationships in the last 5 years. B) affect everyone on occasion but afflict some people more than others. C) affect older people more than younger people. D) affect low self-monitors more than high self-monitors.

Sociology

Humor can have negative effects when it is used:

A. to place someone in a superior position and used sarcastically. B. to place someone in a superior position. C. to help cope with a difficult situation. D. sarcastically.

Sociology

Life course theorists suggest socialization

A. is attributable to both biological and physical influences. B. is attributable solely to biological influences. C. continues through all stages of the life cycle. D. stops after a person experiences a rite of passage.

Sociology