Big Pharma - The Facade That Most See and the Facade That We See

Pharmaceutical industries were once lauded for their amazing contributions to the field of medicine. Their research and development department was at the forefront of discovering the next drug that would make history. Ever since high school, I wanted to be a part of that team; the ones that would work hard to look for new drugs that could cure impossible diseases and infections. I believed that I could make great contributions to their efforts and to use my knowledge to bring forth new ideas for drug discovery.

However, that is not the side of big pharma that many others see. They see the business aspect that has garnered much negative attention in recent years. I personally do not consider this part of big pharma to be considered in the realm of pharmacy. I am talking about the executives that sit and look for drugs to hike up the prices for to sweeten the profits they can make. With so many drugs being manipulated, much of the population has been affected by these changes and sparked outrage across the country. This can easily cause the general community to see big pharma as a typical corporation that looks to profit off of other people's misfortunes.

The side that we see in big pharma is the side that is underappreciated. They are the true researchers that strive each day to develop drugs that can used in tomorrow's world. They are the scientists that work to find new outcomes that can save lives. Unfortunately, these efforts comes at a cost, one that is not light. NIH will fund these efforts, but overall, many resources are put in to allow for these discoveries to happen. In order to cover the cost that is associated with developing these new drugs, big pharma will market the drug as well as coerce practitioners to prescribe their drugs. There have also been companies that are starting to neglect their research and development team - by spending less than 20% of the company's resources to support these endeavors. There must be a way that we can promote the positive side of big pharma and the true efforts that are taking place and still allow for big pharma to run a more accepted form of business to their clients and patients.