Marketing of Drugs, by Pharmaceutical Companies Essay

Marketing of Drugs, by Pharmaceutical Companies - Essay Example By presenting these aspects of the marketing perspective of the pharmaceutical industry this paper attempts to come to the conclusion that in the final outcome of these marketing practices it is the care of the patients that is negatively affected. Introduction: Market conditions have never been so good for the pharmaceutical industry. The amount of money spent in the United States of America on prescription drugs was a whopping $141 billion in 2001, as per figures provided by the CMS Office of the Actuary. This expenditure on prescription drugs has made it the third largest factor in the expenditure on national health care in the United States of America. In 1990 for every dollar spent on health care, prescription drugs made up six cents. The proportional expenditure on prescription drugs has shown a significant rise by 2001 to ten percent. By 2010, this proportional expenditure on prescription drugs is expected to rise to 14.2%, more than doubling, in a period of two decades. There have been several factors that have contributed to this remarkable growth in spending on prescription drugs. These factors are the increased use of prescription drugs, an aging population, development of new therapeutic agents for the treatment of chronic ailmen ts, increasing consumer demand for prescription drugs, and the escalating cost of drugs. Unfortunately these good times have not made the pharmaceutical companies satisfied with the profits that this extra demand for prescription drugs would generate from their existing market share of the expenditure on prescription drugs. Instead the lure of raking in profits has made the pharmaceutical industries attempt to carve out a larger share of the pie, in terms of the prescription drug market.