Paris Lee
English 1001-027
Research Proposal
27 March 2020
Pharmaceutical Industry
Introduction
My Research essay topic is about the Pharmaceutical industry and the major controversial problems they obtain and a way of trying to solve the many problems that surround the industry. My topic is about opioid addiction and I look deeper into the “Opioid Addictions” and how the pharmaceutical industry plays a role in that. The significance of this topic is in its name. The major problems that occurs while working in the Pharmaceutical industry is not just the fact that they prescribe and fill medication but that they prescribe and fill millions of people medications and out of that million maybe 100,000 of those people suffer from opioid addiction or end up getting addicted. It’s not that these big pharmaceutical industries don’t care its more that the business is moving so fast that those who become addicted fall through the cracks until something has been said. But multiple solutions have been thought of and has been put into work to reduce or help the opioid epidemic. How I will examine this topic as an argument, by seeing if the problem at which I’m examining is arguing a true problem, then I’ll know the topic is an argument. The main problems I will be Arguing about is: Legal Liability for opioid Addiction, Drug companies who prescribe the patients the medicine, and how can we solve the opioid addiction epidemic. Me solving the opioid addiction is not just for me to solve but to find solutions to help or reduce the rate of deaths or just simply becoming addicted to opioids. The audience at which I will be speaking to is more a along the line of big pharmaceutical industries. The purpose of my topic is to understand the reason in which pharmacies prescribe “painkillers” and why hasn’t anybody in the pharmaceutical drug business taken the initiative to stop the addiction of opioids or if they have what has been the solutions to solve this problem.
Main Argument #1
Over the last 2-3 years there has been an epidemic of drugs and people who use those drugs become addicts or had already been addicts and just become more addicted to taking those drugs. The problem is that, should the Pharmaceutical industry become more liable and be held accountable for the those who become addicted or should the person who become addicted be held accountable for taking the drug more than what it was needed for (Risk and insurance,2019)? The pharmaceutical industry produce an enormous amount of medication that is prescribe to an enormous amount of people. The legal liability of the pharmaceutical industry being blamed for the epidemic would result in pharmaceutical sales declining rapidly resulting in some pharmaceutical industries to shut down which then would result in companies being shut down and can’t produce specific medications for certain crowds of people. The opioid epidemic has claimed more than 300,000 lives in the United states since 2000 and could claim another half million over the next decade. Although heroin and illicitly manufactured fentanyl account for an increasing proportion of opioid-involved overdoses, the majority of persons with opioid addiction started with painkillers (The New England journal of medicine, 2017). The search for solutions has spread in many directions but the solution that would not only solve the problem of the opioid addiction but save the blame of pharmaceutical industries. The solution to solve this problem is to limit the amount of medicine one patient receives. The pharmacist could limit the amount of medicine one patient gets based on what their specific reason for taking the medicine is for. The pharmaceutical industry could create a guideline that would go across the board that would have patients sign a form that would say the specific medication and what it is used for and the amount of time they would have to take the medication meaning after that amount of time they will no longer receive medication for that specific need but instead an alternative for not using medication would be offered. Alternatives like rehab or something along that line that would give a better outlook than taking prescribe medication and that person become addicted to taking them. The benefits to this are simple the pharmaceutical industry won’t get blamed and be held accountable and there will be a slow decrease in the opioid epidemic if not a large or enormous decrease. The next paragraph will intel an agreement and a solution to that argument.
Main Argument #2
In this main argument I explain the solution to the opioid addiction and how the pharmaceutical industry can help or come up with an alternative to the opioid epidemic like I kind of explained in my main argument 1. In 2018 the data shows that every day, 128 people in the united states die after overdosing on opioids. The misuse of and addiction to opioids Including prescription pain relievers, heroin, and synthetic opioids such as fentanyl, is a serious national crisis that affects public health as well as social and economic welfare (National institute on drug abuse, 2020). Now the public can blame the pharmaceutical industry because their, the ones who prescribe and fill the medications but you can’t really blame them because they only fill and prescribe they don’t tell the recipient “oh yea why don’t you get addicted to this medication” because that would be against their code of conduct to tell someone get addicted to these painkillers. Instead a solution to not addicted is simple don’t let your mind take over your body meaning just because you are taking these prescribe painkillers doesn’t mean you have to keep taking them. When people are prescribe pain killers its obviously to subside the pain and make you not feel the pain. The painkiller only last a certain amount of time after it wears off your quick to pop some more but in reality you’re not subsiding the pain you just like the way it make you feel and that’s how you get addicted and want to try other drugs that make you “feel” good. Now painkillers aren’t the only drug that are prescribed to people who need them but this particular drug is prescribe by the pharmaceutical industries. The other drugs come from off the street you know the drug dealers. Like I said in my first paragraph the pharmaceutical industry wants to create a solution that will the limit the opioid addiction when it comes to being addicted to prescribed pain pills, hydrocodone pills, etc. In all reality it will take time, but another solution will be to stop the production of the painkillers, hydrocodone pills and any other medication along the line of being used than what it’s for. If you stop the production of making these medications’ then the opioid epidemic will start to slowly decrease. Now just because the pharmaceutical industry isn’t making the many medications people easily get addicted to there are still drugs out there for them to get a hold of and get easily addicted to. The next main argument will focus on another solution that focus on solving opioid addiction
Main argument #3
In my last and final Argument, I will explain the solution to how the pharmaceutical industry can create a plan of how to stop the opioid epidemic or decrease the number of Addictions and deaths that occur while doing opioids. A part of the pharmaceutical industry is to see if the patient at high risk for Addiction. Meaning if the person who needs the medication is at high risk to become addicted they won’t be a candidate for the medication and instead will need an alternative medication or just an alternative to their treatment. A couple of alternatives would be; Reducing the flow of opioids. Lowering prescription rates is an important part of this solution, as it prevents a new generation of individuals from becoming exposed to and potentially dependent opioids. “Reducing opioid prescriptions is an important piece of the long-term solution but needs to be done in concert with accessible, affordable, and high-quality treatment. This solution will be implemented in many pharmaceutical industries and hospitals because sometimes doctors are the ones who prescribe the medication. A way to prevent opioid addiction is to use a system that tracks opioid prescriptions so providers and pharmacists can identify patients who have multiple sources of the drug. Rural hospitals are working to offer treatment programs by pooling resources and partnering with other community-based programs. Pain management programs help people deal with chronic pain without relying on habit-forming pills, which can prevent opioid addiction (National rural health association, 2020). Also taking note of how many pills are in each of the prescription bottles or pill packets and keep track of refills. If your child has been prescribed a medicine, be sure you control the medicine, and monitor dosages and refills. Be especially Vigilant with medicines that are known to be addictive and commonly abused by teens and adults, such as opioids, benzodiazepines and stimulants (Drug-free kids,2018). The Pharmaceutical industry has multiple ways of decreasing the opioid epidemic. Part of their job is to help people and educate the youth and the older population but mainly young adults because their ones that become more at risk at opioid addiction. Another helpful way to lower the addiction rate is for pharmacists across the country to require photo identification meaning when patients are picking up their opioid prescriptions at the pharmacy. This is required because an increasing number of cases of abuse have involved identity theft. This could be achieved by mandating that the patient’s identification be checked before accepting a claim for the prescription opioid medication. Encouraging referrals to multidisciplinary pain management programs and referral resources for addiction specialists is another option. In addition, although. Reimbursing for services such as routine urine drug test and referral to specialist may be more costly in the short-term, the ability of these services to help detect and correctly manage patients at risk for prescription opioid abuse may reduce costs in the long-term (American Health & drug benefits 2011).
Refutation
In my refutation I will explain the pharmaceutical industry involvement in the opioid epidemic and explain the multiple ideas or solutions that would help and that the pharmaceutical industry came up with. The Pharmaceutical industry is a big corporation but it also has flaws within the industry. Some say the reason for the opioid epidemic is because big pharmaceutical industries are the ones who prescribe and fill the many medications some become hooked on and may possibly become an addict. Opioid manufactures are under fire for feeding the epidemic sweeping the nation. Hundreds of lawsuits filed from the local to the federal level accuse drug makers of misleading the public about the addictive properties of opioid painkillers. The suits additionally allege that drug makers exaggerating their benefits and urged doctors to over-prescribe for the sake of increasing revenue (Risk & Insurance, 2018). The counter position is valid in this source because if the pharmaceutical industry can prescribe and fill the medications for the person who need it then the pharmaceutical industry should be held accountable for the epidemic because maybe when someone has been prescribed a medication, are the pharmacists taking proper precaution to make sure the person isn’t at high risk for opioid addiction but also has the person ever abused drugs, has the person ever used this type of drug and many more questions. The physicians who order the drug and sends it to nearby pharmacists should also be held legally accountable also because they’re the ones who say whether or not the patient needs the medicine and or if the patient has ever abused drugs. The counter position is wrong because you can’t just put the blame on the pharmaceutical industries. The blame would have to come from the patient or whoever Is using the medication because only that person knows how much they should be taking and or if they’re really using it for pain or for the reason that it makes them feel good. Pharmacies have come up with multiple ways of limiting the use of opioids or help an opioid addict recover. The AMA opioid task force encourages physicians and pharmacies to take a couple of actions: Register the use state prescription drug monitoring programs, enhance education and training, Co-prescribe naloxone to patients at risk of overdose (AMA, 2020).
Conclusion
In my research paper I talk about the problems in which the pharmaceutical industry face and how the opioid epidemic stemmed from this industry but how the industry has come up with possible solutions to lessen the opioid addition. In all 3 of my main arguments I argue logical solutions that would help limit and or stop the opioid epidemic and possibly any opioid addiction you may have. In my main argument 1 one of the possible solutions is to limit the production of the drug so that the addicts who are hooked on the drug can’t receive it because it’s not being made any more. Part of this solution was to create an alternative that could possibly lessen the amount of addictions that occur. The alternative would result in programs that would slowly move you away from a toxic drug to a more natural state of healing process. I explain more in my other arguments but this was just what I felt the pharmaceutical industry could do to help with the epidemic. My audience being the pharmaceutical industry I feel they should learn the system of if someone is more at risk at becoming an addict of a very strong opioid don’t put them on that medicine but create or find an alternative or simply better way to not get them hooked so easily. To conclude this paper my solution(s) are to limit the production of that specific opioid that gets people hooked, create an alternative way of healing via programs of some sort, and know why or learn how to deal with an addict and take preliminary caution.
Works Cited
Haffajee, Rebecca L., et al. “Drug Companies’ Liability for the Opioid Epidemic: NEJM.” New England Journal of Medicine, 5 Mar. 2020, www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp1710756.
Dwyer, Katie, et al. “6 Critical Risks Facing the Pharmaceutical Industry.” Risk & Insurance, 15 Apr. 2019, riskandinsurance.com/6-critical-risks-facing-pharmaceuticals/.
National Institute on Drug Abuse. “Opioid Overdose Crisis.” NIDA, 20 Feb. 2020, www.drugabuse.gov/drugs-abuse/opioids/opioid-overdose-crisis.
“Generic Opioid Companies Fueled the Overdose Crisis – Addiction Center.” AddictionCenter, 14 Aug. 2019, www.addictioncenter.com/news/2019/08/generic-drug-manufacturers-opioid-epidemic/.
“NRHA.” NRHA, National Rural Health Association, www.ruralhealthweb.org/blogs/ruralhealthvoices/july-2019/searching-for-solutions-to-the-rural-opioid-crisis.
“Protect Your Family from Heroin & the Opioid Epidemic.” Where Families Find Answers on Substance Use | Partnership for Drug-Free Kids, drugfree.org/article/protect-your-family-from-the-opioid-epidemic/?utm_source=medsafect&utm_medium=weblink&utm_campaign=medsafect.
Hahn, Kathryn L. “Strategies to Prevent Opioid Misuse, Abuse, and Diversion That May Also Reduce the Associated Costs.” American Health & Drug Benefits, Engage Healthcare Communications, LLC, Mar. 2011, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4106581/.
Dwyer, Katie, et al. “6 Critical Risks Facing the Pharmaceutical Industry.” Risk & Insurance, 15 Apr. 2019, riskandinsurance.com/6-critical-risks-facing-pharmaceuticals/.
“Reversing the Opioid Epidemic.” American Medical Association, www.ama-assn.org/delivering-care/opioids/reversing-opioid-epidemic.
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