Abstract
This paper examines how the cost of prescription drugs is rising in the United States at a rate that outstrips the ability of people without health insurance to pay for them. It looks at how medications absorb up to 30% of the income of many senior citizens, and over 40 million Americans have no health insurance at all. It proposes that those without prescription insurance coverage be combined into one identifiable group eligible for the price discounts negotiated by HMOs and other coverage providers, thus giving all Americans access to volume discount prices for medications.

From the Paper
"Struggling with the cost of medications is not a new problem, and has been a topic of public debate since the 1950's when Senator Estes Kefauver led hearings regarding the pricing policies of the big pharmaceutical companies (Buell, 1999). He accused them of raising their prices unfairly. The industry replied that federal control on prices would devalue stocks and discourage research on new medications, just the claims made today. While there is no doubt that research done pharmaceutical companies has resulted in many new and valuable medications, research is not their only expense. Large amounts of money are spent on advertising, and in the United States, the high cost of medications puts them out of reach of millions who need them (Buell, 1999)."

Tags:pharmaceuticals, hmos, drugs, generics

Abstract
The paper discusses how a company has to maintain business ethics as part of maintaining corporate social responsibility. The paper then focuses on Merck's recall of the Vioxx drug after a customer died from its use. The paper explains how some thought Merck waited too long to recall the drug because it wanted to maximize profits, while on the other hand, some were happy Vioxx was available for longer since a lot of patients would suffer from a lack of the drug. The paper relates that as a result of the late recall, the company's brand reputation and bottom line faced dire consequences and then highlights how it is not always possible for a company to balance organizational ethics with external stakeholder ethics. The paper propounds that in today's dynamic environment, the critical success factor is to maintain a flexible approach to ethical decision-making and test ethical decisions with the external parties.

From the Paper
"However the concept of competitive advantage is rooted in employee motivation and customer confidence. This is where the concept of business ethics becomes relevant. Business ethics is defined as the behavioral guidelines that an organization adheres to in its dealings with both the internal and external stakeholders. However the factors of customer confidence and employee motivation do not always facilitate strict adherence to the behavioral guidelines that are incorporated in the code of ethics. For this reason, the management of an organization can find themselves in a situation in which decision-making might have to be practiced with some discretion that is open to debate. In this respect, the management will make the ethical decisions as they see fit in order to balance the interest of the employees and the customers."

Tags:organization, stakeholder, ethics, consumers, code, of, conduct

Abstract
An Industry overview including economics, products, major firms, sociocultural factors, research and development, mergers and competitive structure

From the Paper
"The pharmaceutical industry is described by the United States government in the Standard Industrial Classifications (SIC) manual as the Pharmaceutical Preparations Industry, SIC 2842. The industry group is 283, which is drugs. The industry is described as follows:
Establishments primarily engaged in manufacturing, fabricating, or processing drugs in pharmaceutical preparations for human or veterinary use. The greater part of the products of these establishments are finished in the form intended for final consumption, such as ampoules, tablets, capsules, vials, ointments, medicinal powders, solutions, and suspensions. Products of this industry consist of two important lines, namely: (1) pharmaceutical..."

Tags:PFIZER

Abstract
This paper begins by providing an analysis of the pharmaceutical industry. It presents a summary profile of the dominant economic characteristics of the pharmaceutical industry and then analyzes the industry through Porter's Five Forces. This is followed by an identification of key industry trends in the pharmaceutical industry. It then applies these findings briefly to the pharmaceutical company called Merck Inc.

From the Paper
"Drug packaging demand is predicted to grow at a rate of 4.3 percent annually in the United States through 2006. According to the report by the Freedonia Group, "Blister packaging will remain the top group based on strength in unit dose, compliance, clinical trial, high barrier and high visibility formats. Pouches and strip packs will compete with blister in unit dose. Prefillable inhalers and syringes will grow the fastest in market value" (Freedonia Group)."

Tags:merck, porter

Abstract
The paper discusses the problem of patients receiving prescription drugs, which they do not actually need because they see the advertising and demand that their doctors give them these drugs. The paper explores the positions of the American Medical Association and the Federal Drug Association. The author concluded that until the drug companies stop hiding the truth and exploiting their drugs, the federal government should do its best to control what the advertisements say and to eliminate loopholes within the law, so that these ads will stop misinforming the public about what the drugs can actually do.

From the Paper
"Drug companies that portray their drugs to improve substantially the lives of the afflicted individuals are not quick to stress the dangers and serious side effects that can endanger lives. The new drugs advertised have a twenty percent chance of ending in an FDA drug recall or having additional FDA safety warnings placed on their labels within 25 years. Advertisements account for hundreds of millions of dollars every year that drug companies spend."

Tags:loopholes, abuse, ama, fda, patients

Abstract
This paper covers the much debated issue of the Medicare program?s lack of prescription drug coverage for the elderly and disabled in the US. A brief history of the program itself, descriptions of and actions taken by the key players in the debate, including the Medicare recipients themselves, support/interest groups such as the AARP, the government, pharmaceutical agencies, and the American public are included.

From the paper:

"At the time of its establishment in 1965 through to the present, the U.S. Medicare program was designed to provide quality health care services for elderly and disabled Americans. The two-part program provides coverage for hospital visits as well as a limited amount of medical insurance to aid with doctors? bills and things of the like. Although it has always been one of the most popular federal programs among elderly and younger citizens alike, the Medicare program has been and remains to grow progressively ineffective in providing quality health care to its recipients. While issues such as the exclusion of certain medical procedures from Medicare?s coverage realm have come and gone, the single most longstanding issue of debate is that of prescription drugs."

Tags:drug, elderly, prescription, disabled, aarp, pharmaceutical, tax, republican, recipient, medigap, companies, democrat

Abstract
This paper examines how the expanding number of lifestyle drugs can soon be expected to reach the consumer driven marketplace. It looks at how this expanding availability of drugs that can be used to change appearance, cognitive and physical capacities is changing the social fabric of culture and poses a difficult challenge to healthcare service providers. It also discusses whether there is any actual physiological need for lifestyle drugs and contends that lifestyle drugs are a fact of modern culture and will continue to play an ever-increasing role in economy-health-society model.
Outline
Defining Lifestyle Drugs
Implications Inherent in the Definition of Lifestyle Drugs
Pharmacological Approaches to Problems of Lifestyle Choice
Consequences of Increasing Usage
Economic Considerations
Misuse of Lifestyle Drugs
Lifestyle Drug-Substitution Strategy

From the Paper
"A key element in the consideration of lifestyle drugs is how they are to be paid for. These new lifestyle drugs come at a time when health care budgets are universally stretched, funding of these drugs could only come at the expense of other more traditional medical treatments.
Lifestyle drugs which address impotence, hair loss, smoking cessation and obesity are rapidly increasing their market share of the pharmaceutical market (Dickman, 2001). In this regard, the pharmaceutical industry has made significant increases to their direct to consumer advertising, from 790million USD in 1996 to 1.8billion USD in 1999 in America alone (IMS Health Report, 2000). In the UK it was predicted that sildenafil alone would cost the health care system 1.3billion GBP (Beecham, 1999), actual costings so far haven't reached these proportions. However, health care budgets could be threatened by wide spread use of lifestyle drugs, especially since sildenafil is only the first of a new wave of lifestyle drugs. "

Tags:pharmacology, sildenafil, medications

Abstract
This paper takes an in depth look at the ways in which pharmaceutical companies unscrupulously put profit before people. Five of the main ways in which they do this that are discussed are; manipulation of research, undue influence over doctors prescribing practices, direct-to-consumer advertising, discrediting of their competitors pharmaceutical and natural alike, and investing only in profitable research. Each topic is discussed thoroughly with credible sources to back the data up.

From the Paper
"The pharmaceutical industry wants people to believe that their main goal is to help people. The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) has even begun airing feel-good commercials featuring people whose lives have been saved by medications. In reality, they spend billions of dollars every year to ensure their true purpose, maximum profit. Their influence begins in the research lab, where the sponsor, usually a pharmaceutical company with a huge financial stake in the findings, has more to say over how the study is conducted and what information is released then the actual investigators, leading some of the foremost medical journals in the world to fight back with strict guidelines. After the pharmaceutical companies get their products approved, they engage in a campaign of bribery to persuade doctors to prescribe their name brand, expensive drugs over their competitor s products. Not wanting to leave it up to the doctors alone to endorse their products, the pharmaceutical industry has started advertising directly to an unwitting populace, on television and in popular magazines. Pharmaceutical companies use their political power and vast economic resources to discredit and undermine non-drug treatment options for various diseases, particularly by attacking the burgeoning field of holistic medicine. Furthermore, the pharmaceutical companies have a long history of not investing in research that would lead to drugs for diseases that effect the world s poor, because there is little profit to be made in developing nations. Through various immoral practices, the pharmaceutical companies put profit ahead of the interests, health and safety of consumers. "

Tags:conspiracy, drug, medicine, natural, government, industry, infections, medical, reseach, profit, sales

Abstract
The purpose of this paper is to describe and analyze the retail drugstore industry and then focus on Walgreens, the industry leader in terms of sales. As part of the Walgreens analysis, its major competitors (CVS Corporation and Rite Aid Corporation) will also be described and analyzed.

Defining the Industry
Number and Type of Pharmacies
Drugstores
External Forces and Agents
Health Maintenance Organizations
Sales
Growth Strategies
Competitors
Competition
Technology
Demographic Trends
Suppliers / Vendors
Regulation
Managed Care and Pharmacy Benefit Managers
Walgreens - A Company Snapshot
Positive Demographics Should Help Fuel Growth
Walgreens Strategic Response
Differentiation
Focus
Walgreens SWOT Analysis
Competitive Analysis
Rite Aid Corporation
CVS Corporation
Financial Analysis

From the Paper
"During the 1990s, many factors were applying downward pressure on the profit margins of retail drug companies', including the rise of health maintenance organizations (HMOs) and pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs), advances in information technology, the emergence of e-commerce, and economic power concentrated in the hands of large pharmaceutical companies (Global Powers of Retailing, 2000).Companies in the retail drugstore industry are engaged in the retail sale of prescription drugs, proprietary drugs, and nonprescription medications. Many also sell medical devices, as well as a variety of cosmetics, toiletries, tobacco, novelty items, snack-foods, and beverages (Encyclopedia of American Industry)."

Tags:drug, drugstores, retail, pharmacy

Abstract
This paper examines clinical trial management practices and how they vary in the United States and Europe as a result of wide-ranging governmental bodies and regulations. It compares and contrasts the rules of the the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the United States and its equivalent in Europe, the European Agency for the Evaluation of Medicinal Products (EMEA). In particular, it provides a brief analysis of several areas involved with oncology clinical trial management in the United States and Europe, including a discussion of medical ethics, the role of the Institutional Review Board in clinical trials, quality of life issues and health economics in oncology studies. It also looks at investigator attitudes towards clinical trials, clinical trial length, compliance and decisions regarding new drug applications (NDAs).

From the Paper
"Investigator attitudes towards clinical trials vary widely and are often dependent upon the investigator's direct involvement in the clinical trial as well as the balance between routine patient care and clinical trial management. According to Abelson, Welch, and Lynch (86), ?In a trial, the clinician's judgment carries a lot of weight. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration bases approval of drugs upon a clinician's judgment of who should be in the trial, how to categorize adverse events, whether there is a drug interaction and the interpretation of specific parameters. These judgments are critical.? Investigators are ultimately responsible for all areas of the study, from recruitment and participant selection to event reporting and monitoring."

Tags:fda, nda, oncology, emea