Big Pharma's Role in Shaping America's Health: Profits Over People?

Big Pharma prioritizes profits over public health through aggressive marketing and lobbying.Photo byStock Image

By Kristy Tallman, September 9, 2024

This article is part of an ongoing series exploring America’s growing dependence on prescription drugs and how it impacts different communities. In previous articles, we explored the surge in medication use among white Americans, the overdiagnosis of ADHD, and how certain groups are getting sicker due to overmedication or lack of access to critical treatments. Now, we shift focus to the powerful force behind it all: Big Pharma.

The pharmaceutical industry in the U.S. is a multi-billion-dollar enterprise, and its influence extends far beyond the medications we take. From aggressive marketing tactics to lobbying efforts in Washington, Big Pharma has shaped the very fabric of American healthcare. But is this influence helping improve public health, or is it simply a way to maximize profits? In this installment, we explore how pharmaceutical companies have placed profits over people, and what that means for the future of health in America.

Big Pharma's Rise to Power

The pharmaceutical industry in America is a behemoth, with total sales exceeding $500 billion annually. It controls the supply of critical medications, shapes the narrative around disease management, and influences public policy through its extensive lobbying efforts. But how did Big Pharma get here?

• Direct-to-Consumer Advertising (DTC): In the U.S., pharmaceutical companies are legally allowed to market their drugs directly to consumers, a practice banned in most other countries. As a result, we are bombarded with TV ads, social media promotions, and internet banners encouraging us to “ask your doctor” about medications. These tactics create a culture of self-diagnosis and medication dependence, where consumers push for drugs based on commercials rather than medical necessity.
• Blockbuster Drugs: Drugs like Adderall, Zoloft, and Humira are household names due to heavy advertising. Pharmaceutical companies spend billions promoting these blockbuster drugs as the solution to various ailments, from mental health issues to autoimmune diseases. But are these drugs always necessary, or are they being overprescribed due to aggressive marketing?

Profits Over People

At its core, Big Pharma is a profit-driven industry, and its success is measured by revenue, not public health outcomes. This focus on profit has led to several troubling trends in the healthcare landscape:

• High Drug Prices: Americans pay the highest prices for prescription medications in the world. The cost of life-saving drugs, such as insulin and EpiPens, has skyrocketed, leaving many unable to afford their prescriptions. Meanwhile, pharmaceutical companies justify these prices by citing the cost of research and development, even though much of the research is often funded by taxpayer money through government grants.
• Marketing Over Medicine: Instead of investing in new treatments or cures, Big Pharma spends vast amounts of money on marketing existing drugs. In 2020 alone, the top pharmaceutical companies spent $6 billion on direct-to-consumer advertising, compared to $3 billion on research for new drugs. This skewed prioritization ensures that profitable drugs remain front and center while public health needs fall by the wayside.

Lobbying for Power

One of Big Pharma’s most effective strategies for maintaining power is its lobbying efforts in Washington. The pharmaceutical industry spends more on lobbying than any other sector, with over $300 million poured into political campaigns and policy influence in 2023. This money buys influence in critical areas like drug pricing regulations, patent protections, and healthcare policy.

• Fighting Price Controls: Despite public outcry over high drug prices, Big Pharma has successfully lobbied against any meaningful reforms. Proposals to cap drug prices or allow Medicare to negotiate directly with pharmaceutical companies have been blocked, keeping prices high and profits flowing.
• Patent Manipulation: Pharmaceutical companies frequently use patent manipulation to extend the exclusivity of their drugs. By making small changes to the formulation or delivery method of a drug, they can file new patents and delay generic competition for years. This ensures that drugs remain expensive for longer, preventing affordable alternatives from entering the market.

Case Study: The Opioid Crisis

One of the most egregious examples of Big Pharma’s profit-driven approach is the opioid epidemic. For years, companies like Purdue Pharma aggressively marketed opioid painkillers, downplaying their risks while pushing doctors to prescribe them widely. As a result, the U.S. saw a surge in opioid prescriptions, leading to an addiction crisis that has claimed hundreds of thousands of lives.

• Marketing Over Safety: Purdue Pharma’s marketing campaign for OxyContin targeted doctors with the message that opioids were safe for long-term pain management, despite evidence to the contrary. This led to a massive spike in opioid prescriptions, particularly in white, working-class communities. The company’s relentless pursuit of profit contributed to one of the worst public health crises in U.S. history.
• The Fallout: As lawsuits against Purdue Pharma and other opioid manufacturers mounted, the devastating impact of their profit-driven practices became clear. Families across America have been torn apart by addiction, and the opioid epidemic has cost the U.S. economy billions in healthcare costs, lost productivity, and social services.

Who Is Big Pharma Targeting?

While pharmaceutical companies claim they are working to improve public health, their practices reveal a different story. Big Pharma has historically targeted white Americans, particularly in suburban and rural areas, with high-cost medications for mental health, ADHD, and autoimmune diseases.

• ADHD Medications: As we explored in our previous article, white American boys are disproportionately diagnosed with ADHD and prescribed stimulant medications like Adderall. Pharmaceutical companies have played a major role in this surge by promoting ADHD drugs as the solution to behavioral and academic struggles.
• Autoimmune Treatments: Expensive biologics like Humira are marketed heavily to white Americans diagnosed with autoimmune diseases like rheumatoid arthritis. These drugs generate billions in revenue for pharmaceutical companies, even though they are often unaffordable for minority populations.

Conclusion: A Healthcare System Built on Profits

Big Pharma’s influence on American healthcare is undeniable. Through aggressive marketing, lobbying, and profit-driven practices, pharmaceutical companies have shaped a healthcare system where medications are overprescribed, drug prices are sky-high, and public health is often sacrificed for corporate gains. While medications play an essential role in treating illness, it’s clear that Big Pharma’s priorities are not always aligned with the best interests of the American people.

This article is part of a series exploring America’s dependency on prescription medications and the forces driving it. In the next installment, we’ll examine the growing resistance to Big Pharma’s power and what can be done to reclaim public health from profit-driven corporations.

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By Kristy Tallman, September 9, 2024

The Republic News
#BigPharma #DrugPrices #OpioidCrisis #HealthcareInequality #PillCulture #MentalHealthMatters #KristyTallman

Sources:

1. Purdue Pharma and Opioid Marketing: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/21/health/purdue-pharma-opioids-settlement.html
2. Lobbying in the Pharmaceutical Industry: https://www.opensecrets.org/industries/lobbying.php?cycle=2020&ind=h04
3. Prescription Drug Prices in the U.S.: https://www.kff.org/health-costs/issue-brief/how-do-prescription-drug-prices-in-the-u-s-compare-to-other-countries/
4. Marketing in the Pharmaceutical Industry: https://www.statnews.com/2019/01/08/pharma-spent-6-billion-advertising-last-year/
5. Big Pharma's Blockbuster Drugs: https://www.fiercepharma.com/pharma/ranking-top-10-best-selling-drugs-2020