Patient Access to Prohibitively Expensive Medicines

Running Head: PATIENT ACCESS TO PROHIBITIVELY EXPENSIVE MEDICINES
PATIENT ACCESS TO PROHIBITIVELY EXPENSIVE MEDICINES
NAME OF THE STUDENT
NAME OF THE UNIVERSITY
AUTHOR’S NOTE

1PATIENT ACCESS TO PROHIBITIVELY EXPENSIVE MEDICINES
THE ISSUE OF POOR PATIENTS NOT BEING ABLE TO EXPENSIVE MEDICINES
Various international agreements such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,
Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the International Covenant on
Economic, Social and Cultural Rights explicitly mention the Right to Health as one of the
fundamental rights which every human being is entitled to and no person shall be denied this
right("Human rights and health", 2018). Despite the existence of this right, the patients across the
world are still not able to procure the most essential medicines which are essential for their
treatment. This is not just limited to the poor countries of Asia and Africa but can also be seen
and felt in the more advanced countries of Europe and North America (World Health
Organization, 2017). The inability of the patients to procure costly medicines can be attributed to
several reasons. The foremost cause of the unaffordability of life saving drugs and medicines is
that they are in limited stock due to which the prices of such medicines are on the higher
side(Bashaar et al., 2017). The expensive medicines are not affordable by the patients who come
from poor working-class families. The market dynamics act against the poor patients and the
unavailability of the Biosimilar, which is the substitute of the life saving costly drugs, means that
the poor patients are left without any access to medicines and healthcare facilities (Zhang & Chi,
2014). The common good philosophy which adheres to the principle of sharing the common
reswithources goes against the current scenario where patients are denied the basic right to health
because of the unaffordability to pay the expenses for the medicines. The people employed in the
healthcare services, despite the willingness to help the patients, face the dilemma of whether to
go against the organizational goals of following the respected protocols of the designated
organizations wherein they are employed (Bigdeli, Peters& Wagner, 2014).This is due to the fact
that the employees of the healthcare services are employees of the organizations and they have to

2PATIENT ACCESS TO PROHIBITIVELY EXPENSIVE MEDICINES
abide by the rules and regulations of the organizations. The organizations also have to keep the
financial aspect intact. In these circumstances, they face a conflict of interest while performing
Common Good.
RECOMMENDATIONS TO ADDRESS THIS CHALLENGE IN THE PROFESSIONAL
COMMUNITY, LOCALLY AND GLOBALLY
The issue of the patients not being able to procure the expensive medicines can be
mitigated by the help and support from the Government as well as the International Bodies, such
as the United Nations Organization, the Red Cross, the World Health Organization. If the
Government or the International Bodies agree to sell the medicines at a subsidized value then it
becomes easier for the patients to procure such medicines (Moura, 2017). The people are a form
of resource for the country and for the proper functioning of the country’s economy, it is
imperative that the human resources are maintained by the Administration. The interference by
the Government or the International Bodies, will lead to the expenditure of the Exchequer of the
Government which the Government can balance out by imposing taxes on the sale of luxury
commodities as the rich can afford to spend more money to buy luxury commodities or in
economical terminology, the Veblen Goods (Lee, 2017). Although, there is no direct evidence to
this idea being implemented anywhere but there are various countries which provides subsidies
to the people for buying medicines such as New Zealand offering Prescription Subsidies and
India offering subsidies on the essential medicines as well as levying heavy taxes on the cost of
the luxury cars.
The Government of the respective countries must ensure that there are Biosimilars-
substitutes to the lifesaving drugs, available in the market. In case the prices of the original life

3PATIENT ACCESS TO PROHIBITIVELY EXPENSIVE MEDICINES
saving drugs are not affordable by the poor people, they must have access to the Biosimilar
products (Davis et al., 2017). The poor patients suffering from terminal diseases are at a great
disadvantage when it comes to procuring life saving drugs. If the manufacturers can supply
similar alternative products at a cheap price, then it will be hugely beneficial for the common
poor people. The manufacturers of Pharmaceutical medicines must do so as a moral
responsibility under Common Good philosophy. This is not always possible but with the support
and assistance of the Government, this can be practiced to a certain level. The mot point is to
assist the poor patients who are living in impoverished conditions. If they can be guaranteed
better access to medical facilities, then the issue of poverty can be addressed in a much better
way. The biosimilar may not have the brand name of the Pharmaceutical company but it must
have the prescribed dosage of the drugs which are present in the original Medicine manufactured
by the Pharmaceutical Brand (Bressler &Dingermann, 2015). Along with the Biosimilar
Medicines, there exists another type of Medicine which are called the Generic Medicines. The
Generic medicines are a type of pharmaceutical drug which is a substitute for the prescribed
costly medicine but have an equal amount of strength, dosage, quality and performance as that of
the costly branded medicine. The Generic Medicines should be equivalent of the costly medicine
and must be manufactured for the welfare of the poor patients.
The Government, as well as the International Bodies, must ensure that the Generic or the
Biosimilar medicines are available at the shops catering to the welfare of the poor patients. The
doctors should be advised not to recommend costly medicines of established Pharmaceutical
Brands to the patients who can least afford them. Rather, the doctors must prescribe the generic
or the Biosimilar medicines to the patients from the poor working-class families. It must be
ensured that the people from poor working-class families are the beneficiaries of the Biosimilar

4PATIENT ACCESS TO PROHIBITIVELY EXPENSIVE MEDICINES
or the Generic Medicines and these medicines are not bought by the people from middle class or
rich families (Yadav & Rawal, 2015). At the Local Level, the Practice of Community Service
and Charity serviced should be encouraged so that the poor get financial aid and support from the
other members of the society. Doing this will make the people from the poor working-class
families feel a part of the society and not make them feel alienated. The people from the well-off
families can also practice Common Good by doing Charity work and organizing Community
Service for the Poor members of the society. The issue of the poor patients coming from the poor
working class families not getting access to buy the medicines have been a common issue in
many countries. The complexities of the issue in countries with huge population of impoverished
people. The problem can be addressed only if all the people around the globe as well as the
leaders of the nations unite in order to make it a right for everyone to have access to better
healthcare facilities. Doing this will require the effort as well as assistance from many people.
The people from the well off families must understand the fact that they have a social
responsibility towards the society as well as the planet. This needs to be done by the assistance of
the politicians and the leaders.
The Healthcare Fraternity must organize free medical camps in the towns and villages
which have a high population of poor working-class families. In the cities, there are areas where
the poor people live together with such as ghettos and slums. These places, despite being cheap
and affordable for the poor residents, are unhygienic and have poor sanitation facilities. The
Healthcare Fraternity can help spread awareness about the ill effects of living in poor hygiene
and not maintaining proper sanitation. Many diseases can be prevented from escalating into
major diseases if the poor people are enlightened by the Healthcare Fraternity. The philosophy of
Common Good must be taught to the children at schools so that the feeling of unity and

5PATIENT ACCESS TO PROHIBITIVELY EXPENSIVE MEDICINES
brotherhood among the different class of people living in the society is fostered in them. The
children must be taught to not be biased and prejudiced against the poor people. The Government
must ensure that the Poor Patients get access to all the healthcare services and money should not
be a deterring factor in procuring the medicines. To efficiently distribute the medicines to the
needy and the patients from the poor families, a proper distribution mechanism must be put in
place. There must be a governing body to evaluate and assess the distribution of the medicines
and healthcare benefits to the poor communities. The Right to Health is a fundamental right and
every individual has the right to get access to proper treatment and medicines. In a Global
perspective, the problem can be addressed by involving the Non-Profit Organizations, the
Government Agencies, the International Organizations, the civil society. By the collaboration of
all these groups, the patients from poorer sections of the society can get access to prohibitively
expensive medicines.

6PATIENT ACCESS TO PROHIBITIVELY EXPENSIVE MEDICINES
REFERENCES
Bashaar, M., Hassali, M. A., Saleem, F., ALrasheedy, A. A., &Thawani, V. (2017). Efficacy of
international approaches to medicine price regulation and control: A scoping review.
Journal of Applied Pharmaceutical Science Vol, 7(04), 227-241.
Bigdeli, M., Peters, D., & Wagner, A. (2014). Medicines in health systems. Geneva: World
Health Organisation.
Bressler, B., &Dingermann, T. (2015). Establishing a new marketplace for biologic therapy with
biosimilar agents– the importance of extrapolation of data. Biosimilars, 5, 41-48.
Davis, G. E. B. A. L., Miller, J. D., Sharfstein, J. M., &Kesselheim, A. S. (2017). LAW,
MEDICINE & ETHICS. The Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics.
Human rights and health. 2018. Retrieved from
http://www.who.int/en/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/human-rights-and-health
Lee, M. (2017). A Conceptual Understanding of Inconspicuous Consumption in the Luxury
Business Sector. The essence of luxury, 77.
Moura, E. A. D. C. (2017). Right to health, public policy and drug purveyance: sustainability
through integrated actions and popular participation in public health. Revista dos
Tribunais, 2017, 02-15.
World Health Organization. (2017). Towards access 2030: WHO essential medicines and health
products strategic framework 2016-2030.

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Yadav, S., & Rawal, G. (2015). Counterfeit drugs: Problem of developing and developed
countries. Int J Pharmceut Chem Anal, 2(1), 46-50.
Zhang, N., & Chi, E. (2014). Statistical considerations for the development of biosimilar
products. Generics and Biosimilars Initiative Journal (GaBI Journal), 3(1), 21-5.