Thanks to remarkable advances in modern health care attributable to science, engineering, and medicine, it is now possible to cure or manage illnesses that were long deemed untreatable. At the same time, however, the United States is facing the vexing challenge of a seemingly uncontrolled rise in the cost of health care. Total medical expenditures are rapidly approaching 20 percent of the gross domestic product and are crowding out other priorities of national importance. The use of increasingly expensive prescription drugs is a significant part of this problem, making the cost of biopharmaceuticals a serious national concern with broad political implications. Especially with the highly visible and very large price increases for prescription drugs that have occurred in recent years, finding a way to make prescription medicinesâ€"and health care at largeâ€"more affordable for everyone has become a socioeconomic imperative. Affordability is a complex function of factors, including not just the prices of the drugs themselves, but also the details of an individual's insurance coverage and the number of medical conditions that an individual or family confronts. Therefore, any solution to the affordability issue will require considering all of these factors together. The current high and increasing costs of prescription drugsâ€"coupled with the broader trends in overall health care costsâ€"is unsustainable to society as a whole. Making Medicines Affordable examines patient access to affordable and effective therapies, with emphasis on drug pricing, inflation in the cost of drugs, and insurance design. This report explores structural and policy factors influencing drug pricing, drug access programs, the emerging role of comparative effectiveness assessments in payment policies, changing finances of medical practice with regard to drug costs and reimbursement, and measures to prevent drug shortages and foster continued innovation in drug development. It makes recommendations for policy actions that could address drug price trends, improve patient access to affordable and effective treatments, and encourage innovations that address significant needs in health care.

"Resolution WHA41.17 adopted by the Forty-first World Health Assembly, 13 May 1988" -- p.1.

The relationship between business and human rights has emerged in the last two decades as one of the most pressing issues in the field of business ethics. Do corporations have human rights responsibilities? If so, what is that nature of those responsibilities and do they differ in any significant way from those of governments? Is it reasonable or realistic to expect corporations to respect human rights in environments where governments, particularly in the developing and underdeveloped world, need economic development and have a limited capacity and/or interest in enforcing human rights standards and laws? The contributors to this groundbreaking volume take up these questions, examining them from both theoretical and practical perspectives. Topics discussed include the debates leading to the creation of the ISO 26000 standard and the United Nations human rights framework for business entities, as well as the nature and limits of the human rights responsibilities of business, the roles and responsibilities of international trade bodies like the World Trade Organization in protecting human rights, and the implications of the current debate for international trade agreements and trade with China. The contributors also explore the effectiveness of voluntary human rights standards in the textile and clothing trade, mining, advertising and the pharmaceutical industry. Scholars and students in management, philosophy, political science, sociology and law will find this volume a great resource, as will activists, managers and policy makers.

"Exorbitant prices for lifesaving drugs, safety recalls affecting tens of millions of Americans, and soaring rates of addiction and overdose on prescription opioids have caused many to lose faith in pharmaceutical companies. Now, Americans are demanding national reckoning with a monolithic industry. In Pharma, award-winning journalist and New York Times best-selling author Gerald Posner uncovers the real story of the Sacklers, the family that became one of America's wealthiest from the success of OxyContin, their blockbuster narcotic painkiller at the centure of the opioid crisis. The unexpected twists and turns of the Sakler family saga are told against the startling chronicle of a powerful industry that sits at the intersection of public health and profits. Pharma reveals how and why American drug companies have put earnings ahead of patients"--

Distinguished scholars of bioethics and business ethics discuss justice in relation to business-friendly strategies in the delivery of health care.

A seminal text in the field, this new edition of The Routledge Handbook of Health Communication provides students and scholars with a comprehensive survey of the subject’s key research foundations and trends, authored by the discipline’s leading scholars. The third edition has been completely updated and reorganized to guide both new researchers and experienced scholars through the most critical and contemporary topics in health communication today. There are eight major sections covering a range of issues, including interpersonal and family health communication; patient-provider communication; healthcare provider and organizational health communication; mediated health communication; campaigns, interventions, and technology applications; and broad issues such as health literacy, health equity, and intercultural communication. Attention also is devoted to foundational issues in health communication, such as theory and method; multidisciplinary, interdisciplinary, and transdisciplinary communication research; research translation, implementation, and dissemination; and narrative health communication. There is new attention to policy and NGOs, the environment, public health crises, global health, mental health and mental illness, and marginalized populations such as Black, Latinx (a/o), Native/First People, and LGBTQ+ individuals, as well as the multiple challenges health communication researchers face in conducting research. The handbook will continue to serve as an invaluable resource for students, researchers, scholars, policymakers, and healthcare professionals doing work in health communication.