Prescription Price Gouging: A Need for Good Government or Good Corporate Citizens?

Sara, a research and development (R&D) manager at one of the top pharmaceutical companies in the U.S., was surprised to see her cousin Rachel, who lives in a neighboring state, featured on a news segment personalizing the impact that high prescription drug prices have on ordinary families. Rachel demonized the pharmaceutical industry for its excessive price increases on critical medicines that average families need. Rachel wants to see more government action to curtail price increases for prescription drugs, especially for critical, life-saving medicines. In her role, Sara has little impact on the pricing model her company uses for prescription drugs, but knows that most new drugs do not make it to market with about 1 in 5,000 drugs successfully completing clinical trials, FDA approval, and ...