Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Tables
- Figures
- About the Editors
- Contributors
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- Foreword
- Introduction: Charting a Sustainable Path for the Twenty-First Century Pharmaceutical Industry
- PART I PROFITS, PATIENTS' RIGHTS, AND SCIENTIFIC PROGRESS: THE ETHICS OF CLINICAL RESEARCH CONDUCTED IN PRIVATE ENTERPRISES
- PART II MARKETING AND THE EFFICIENT UTILIZATION OF HEALTHCARE RESOURCES: ETHICAL AND PUBLIC POLICY CHALLENGES
- PART III PATENTS, PRICING, AND EQUAL ACCESS
- Introduction to Part III
- 15 Intellectual Property Rights, Access to Life-Enhancing Drugs, and Corporate Moral Responsibilities
- 16 A Future Agenda for Government–Industry Relations
- 17 AIDS Activism and the Pharmaceutical Industry
- 18 The Campaign Against Innovation
- 19 Third World Perspectives on Global Pharmaceutical Access
- 20 The Promise of Vaccines and the Influenza Vaccine Shortage of 2004: Public and Private Partnerships
- PART IV CONCLUDING THOUGHTS: CHARTING A SUSTAINABLE PATH FOR THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY
- Notes
- Index
16 - A Future Agenda for Government–Industry Relations
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 04 December 2009
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Tables
- Figures
- About the Editors
- Contributors
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- Foreword
- Introduction: Charting a Sustainable Path for the Twenty-First Century Pharmaceutical Industry
- PART I PROFITS, PATIENTS' RIGHTS, AND SCIENTIFIC PROGRESS: THE ETHICS OF CLINICAL RESEARCH CONDUCTED IN PRIVATE ENTERPRISES
- PART II MARKETING AND THE EFFICIENT UTILIZATION OF HEALTHCARE RESOURCES: ETHICAL AND PUBLIC POLICY CHALLENGES
- PART III PATENTS, PRICING, AND EQUAL ACCESS
- Introduction to Part III
- 15 Intellectual Property Rights, Access to Life-Enhancing Drugs, and Corporate Moral Responsibilities
- 16 A Future Agenda for Government–Industry Relations
- 17 AIDS Activism and the Pharmaceutical Industry
- 18 The Campaign Against Innovation
- 19 Third World Perspectives on Global Pharmaceutical Access
- 20 The Promise of Vaccines and the Influenza Vaccine Shortage of 2004: Public and Private Partnerships
- PART IV CONCLUDING THOUGHTS: CHARTING A SUSTAINABLE PATH FOR THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY
- Notes
- Index
Summary
INTRODUCTION
Running a research-driven health company in the twenty-first century is both exciting and challenging. We've discovered and developed clinically valuable modern medicines, devices, and diagnostics to improve the lives of millions of patients and their families; these advances also provide economic value by decreasing hospital stays, reducing the use of other expensive healthcare services, and increasing individuals' productivity. Yet, the media and politicians routinely identify the industry as a major societal problem. This image is reinforced because insurers and others are shifting costs, so patients are paying more for medicines than for hospital stays or doctor visits. Consequently, the public's appreciation of our contributions is at an all-time low.
As individuals and governments face real economic challenges in paying for healthcare, the clinical and economic benefits of new medicines often fail to make a favorable impression on the public. Growing premiums, co-payments, and administrative burdens are what the public and many healthcare providers generally focus on, because these are the challenges confronting them daily. And the overall value of new treatments is often obscured by segmental budgeting and cost shifting within our healthcare system. For example, a clinically important new treatment may allow a patient to leave the hospital sooner. Clearly, this is a good thing for patients, as well as their employers, if it allows them to return to work earlier. But financially, this breakthrough can have multiple effects. Insurance companies may save money because outpatient care is less expensive than hospital care.
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- Ethics and the Pharmaceutical Industry , pp. 282 - 299Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2005
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