Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jan 24, 2026
An Affordable HIV-1 Drug Resistance Monitoring Method for Resource Limited Settings
Published on: March 30, 2014
Barriers to Ensuring Access to Affordable Prescription Drugs
1Department of Health Research and Policy, Stanford University School of Medicine, and Stanford Law School, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305, USA;
Abstract:
High and rising prescription drug costs have become a preoccupying policy problem in the United States. Notwithstanding broad, bipartisan interest in finding effective policy solutions, several aspects of the drug affordability problem make it an uncommonly difficult one to solve. This article reviews the moral, market, and political factors contributing to the difficulty. Among the moral problems is lack of agreement about how to weigh the fundamental tradeoff involved in regulating drug prices-affordability versus incentives for innovation-and about what constitutes a fair price. Market-related factors include the lack of price transparency and a myriad of perverse incentives in the system through which prescription drugs are supplied to patients. Finally, current policy choices are constrained by past political compromises, and an atmosphere of scandal focusing on egregious instances of price gouging has made rational deliberation about fixes to deeper problems in the system difficult.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
01:02Prescription, Nonprescription and Orphan Drugs
The misuse and addiction to prescription drugs is a growing problem that can affect people of all age groups, specifically teenagers. This can happen when prescription medications are used in ways not intended by the prescriber, such as taking someone else's prescription or using medication for...
01:23Factors Affecting Drug Distribution: Physiological Barriers
The capillary endothelial barrier allows only smaller molecules below 600 Da (Daltons) to pass through. It also restricts drugs like heparin that are bound to blood components, limiting their movement within the bloodstream.
The...
01:25Physiological Barriers
The blood endothelial barrier is the most porous of these. It allows all small ionized, un-ionized, and lipophilic molecules to pass through the endothelial lining into the interstitial space...
01:25Mucosal Barrier of the Stomach
Within parietal cells, carbonic acid is first formed through the reaction of water and carbon dioxide. The dissociation of carbonic acid releases bicarbonate and hydrogen ions. The bicarbonate...
01:18Surface Membrane Barriers
The outer layer of the skin, the epidermis, is a robust barrier comprising layers of closely packed keratinized cells. This dense arrangement prevents microbes from penetrating the body. The periodic shedding of epidermal cells...
01:21Barriers to Effective Communication II
Cultural barriers:
Differences in values, beliefs, religion, knowledge, and tradition can significantly impact communication. Awareness of nonverbal cues is critical, especially when conversing with a patient from a different culture. What appears appropriate in one culture may be inappropriate in another.
Semantic barriers:
As a result of their tendency to use...