title: The ethics and economics of pharmaceutical pricing.
abstract: The cost of drugs is a major and rapidly rising component of health-care expenditures. We survey recent literature on the ethics and economics of skyrocketing pharmaceutical prices and find that advances in economic research have increased the sharpness and focus of the ethically based calls to increase access by modifying patent protection and reducing prices. In some cases, research supports ethical arguments for broader access. Other research suggests that efforts to broaden access result in unintended consequences for innovation and the medical needs of patients. Both ethicists and economists need to be more cognizant of the real clinical settings in which physicians practice medicine with real patients. Greater cross-disciplinary interaction among economists, ethicists, and physicians can help reduce the disjunction between innovation and access and improve access and patient care. This dialogue will impact private industry and may spur new multistakeholder paradigms for drug discovery, development, and pricing.
authors.affiliation: Department of Management and Global Business, Rutgers Business School-Newark and New Brunswick, Newark, New Jersey 07102; email: sparker@business.rutgers.edu , msantoro@business.rutgers.edu.
authors.forename: Sara
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Parker-Lue
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Santoro
authors.forename: Greg
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Koski
mesh_terms: D000329:Advertising / Q000191:economics / Q000941:ethics; D003132:Commerce / Q000191:economics* / Q000941:ethics* / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D004059:Diffusion of Innovation; D016527:Drug Costs / Q000941:ethics* / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D004345:Drug Industry / Q000191:economics* / Q000941:ethics* / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D004335:Drug and Narcotic Control / Q000191:economics; D033161:Government Regulation; D006297:Health Services Accessibility / Q000191:economics / Q000941:ethics; D054625:Healthcare Disparities / Q000191:economics / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D006801:Humans; D008389:Marketing of Health Services / Q000191:economics / Q000941:ethics; D008483:Medical Assistance / Q000191:economics / Q000941:ethics; D010330:Patents as Topic / Q000941:ethics; D004364:Pharmaceutical Preparations / Q000191:economics* / Q000600:supply & distribution; D010819:Physician's Role
chemical_list: D004364:Pharmaceutical Preparations
keywords: differential pricing; drug access; innovation; patents; prescribing; price controls; rationing