The pharmaceutical industry is suffering through a public relations terror. Pharmaceutical companies make the news and paper frequently because of their negative impact on raising prices of important and necessary drugs that have been on the market for years. A specific crisis is the increasing EpiPen prices. This situation has caused panic, dismay, and frustration in the 40 million* Americans who suffer from severe allergies. These allergies can range from spider bites and bee stings to food.
The pharmaceutical company Mylan, who’s headquarters is located in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, has a virtual monopoly on epinephrine injectors. Without these life- saving devices, individuals who combat severe allergic reactions upon exposure to their allergens are at risk for anaphylactic shock. Without treatment from the epinephrine hormone, symptoms of an allergic reaction can intensify at rapid rates from wheezing and hives to convulsions. As precaution, many people carry EpiPens to use in these frightful situations. Mylan has jacked the cost of EpiPens three times a year over the past nine years. The cost for a pair of syringes (EpiPens) was once about $90 but has now reached about $600 or greater.
In 2017, more than 3.6 million U.S prescriptions for two packs of EpiPens were filled, resulting in a $1.7 billion-dollar revenue to this Pennsylvania pharmaceutical company. The government has no regulation on drug pricing, and like all pharmaceutical companies, Mylan looks at its competitive pricing of similar drugs to determine the price of this life saving device. This worldwide situation has shown how pharmaceutical companies make an indispensable drug and then hike the price of the drug to consumers.
Some of the most pressing problems facing the pharmaceutical industry that stemmed from this crisis include a change in public opinion and consumer demand. As stated in a specific scenario above, a concern for the pharmaceutical industry is the perception amongst consumers and the general public, many believing these industries seek to maximize profits by continually raising prices on existing drugs, while not creating new drugs that actually promote health, and even worse, with the opioid crisis, actively pushing drugs leading to the deaths of thousands. This ongoing concern can lead to consumer revolts against the pharmaceutical industry, addressing the importance of necessary drugs being made unattainable to consumer by causing a financial burden on many American families.
Ever since I was six years old, my dream job of becoming a Medical Scientist for a Pharmaceutical Company has never wavered. My dual major in Pharmaceutical Product Development and Cellular Molecular Biology and minor in Applied Statistics provides me with the knowledge to blossom in this career. After losing my great grandmother to pancreatic cancer, my grandmother to Alzheimer’s disease, and my guardian angel, my older brother, to Streptococcus pneumoniae, I have always wanted to participate in drug discovery research to contribute in areas of medicine and pharmacology that are not yet fully understood.
The day I was born, my older brother Zachary passed away from bacterial meningitis that attacked his brain and caused death in a matter of a few days. I never met my strong and loving brother, but the pain his death has caused is still imbedded in my parents and families’ hearts. The passion that I have to become a Medical Scientist is like no other, and I aspire to concentrate on drug discovery in fields of medicine that do not have resolutions, specifically dementia.
Being the middle of two brothers is amazing and I am forever grateful for my support systems, but the financial burden it causes my parents is hard. I am less than two years apart from both my older and younger brother, and this age gap puts each child in my family in college at the same time. My parents, hardworking and driven, take parent plus loans for both my brothers and myself to finance our college endeavors.
I not only am a Division II collegiate athlete, but I also maintain a job being a Genetics tutor on campus to provide myself with grocery money each week to help my parents in funding my college expenses. This scholarship would help me tremendously by allowing me to further my plans of receiving my Ph.D. and continuing my journey in the research world. My goal is to enter a dual-degree program that pairs a Ph.D. in Biology with a medical degree to give me the best education before entering industry and becoming a Medical Scientist.
