Advances in Medical Ethics
Open Access

A Note on Unsubsidised and Expensive Drugs

Ekong Riyan^{* *}Correspondence: Ekong Riyan, Department of Medical Ethics, University of Nigeria, Enugu, Nigeria, Email:

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Introduction

The discovery of novel medications may be a timeconsuming process that includes preliminary laboratory and animal research, followed by a series of clinical trials. Clinical evaluation includes phase I testing, which focuses on determining side effects and an appropriate dose for later study; phase II studies, which evaluate efficacy in people with a specific condition; and phase III studies, which generally compare a new, experimental treatment to an existing standard treatment. Once a therapeutic efficacy has been proved, the drug manufacturer can get approval from the appropriate regulatory authority. Further review follows, which might take months or years. If the medicine is authorised, there may be additional delays until financing arrangements allow the drug to be widely distributed.

Unsubsidised and high priced medications

The pharmaceutical benefit systems subsidises the majority of prescription medications. The Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Council, an independent expert body comprising of medical practitioners and pharmacists, examines new medications that have been approved for inclusion in the plan by the Therapeutic Goods Administration. Before choosing a treatment, the committee considers a variety of aspects, including efficacy, safety, quality of life benefits, and cost effectiveness. The committee has the authority to place restrictions on how medications are prescribed. A new drug may take a long time to be licenced by the Therapeutic Goods Administration and subsequently included in the pharmaceutical benefits plan.

Many countries have been encountered with similar difficulties in obtaining authorization and receiving subsidies. The United Kingdom's National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) has been accused of creating major delays in making drugs available through the NHS. Cancer BACUP, a cancer charity, has issued a "dossier of delay" that shows significant delays in the approval of innovative anticancer drugs. Some medications that have been shown in large clinical trials to increase survival may not be recommended by NICE for several years, making them unavailable to many patients. Similar delays are seen in several European nations.

Regulatory authorities exist to guarantee that pharmaceuticals are not made available to the public until they have been proven to be safe and effective. Some claim that because the process of producing new pharmaceuticals might take several years, regulatory bodies also block access to potentially valuable treatments. This might also be seen as paternalism.

Access to pharmaceuticals in development is more complicated than just letting people to make their own decisions, because patients who have been wounded by risky therapies require medical care. Ensuring that the patients are informed for the possible dangers and benefits of new medicines pose a significant problem, although it may be compared to participation in early phase clinical studies. Medical ethics is successfully governed by three principles: beneficence (supporting the best interests of patients), autonomy, and distributive justice (distributing limited resources fairly).

Conclusion

There are no easy solutions to the challenge of getting new, expensive drugs. Nonetheless, it is illogical to withhold information about any potentially helpful therapy from a patient owing to financial concerns, even if these discussions are difficult and painful for some patients. Withholding such information is unethical and paternalistic. The public need to debate how much responsibility the government should carry for individual health and well-being, as well as how limited healthcare funds should be allocated.