Prescription Drugs Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Prescription Drugs - Term Paper Example What is fueling the rise in prescription drugs costs? A number of factors are accounted for the rise in prescription drugs costs, such as: 1. Rise in demand: Much of the increase in prescription drugs costs is attributed to the rising demand, consumption and utilization of prescription drugs. Ageing population, rise of lifestyle and chronic diseases such as diabetes, hypertension and depression and specialty diseases such as Alzheimer’s etc. have led to high consumption of prescription drugs in U.S. Hence, leading to higher government spending on medical drugs. 2. Increase in drug development costs: The average costs to develop a new drug therapy increased by more than 60% from 2000 to 2005 hence leading to higher prescription drug prices for innovative medicines (PhRMA, 2011). 3. Direct to Consumer Marketing and Advertising particularly for higher priced drugs by pharmaceutical companies has also driven the demand, sales and overall spending levels. 4. Price Inflation: Retail prescription drugs prices have increased around 3.6% annually during 2000 and 2009, higher than the avg. inflation rate of 2.5% (Kaiser Foundation, 2010). It is estimated that prescription drug spending growth would undergo a slower pace until 2017 when high utilization would accelerate the demand for prescription drugs (Keehan, et al., 2008). The incessant rise in demand due to ageing population and rise of innovative medicines will resume to upsurge the prescription drug expenditures for current and future years. Drug development costs for innovative drugs will continue to rise, however, due to a number of patent expiries and higher penetration of generics medicines will balance the overall increase in such costs. The prices of mature drugs would fall in the future due to generic entries and price reviews by federal and state governments whereas prices of new innovative medicines

Climate Change in Saudi Arabia Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5000 words

Climate Change in Saudi Arabia - Research Paper Example The world is witness to considerable variation, in respect of sources of energy. In addition, there is an increase in the number of energy choices being provided to the various countries of the world. These efforts are the outcome of energy, security, economic and environmental concerns. All over the world, there has been a gradual changeover, from an economy based on fossil fuels, to on that depends on sustainable forms of energy. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia presents an extremely informative case, in this regard. It is one of the largest oil exporters in the world and is home to 25% of the world’s oil reserves. Of late, this country has been making serious efforts at urbanization and industrialization. This nation receives a large amount of sunlight and enjoys considerable wind resources. However, these renewable energy resources have not been adequately exploited. The concerns over the climate and conventions of the United Nations stand to hinder the economic progress of Saudi Arabia. This kingdom will be required to adopt alternative energy sources and eschew the use of traditional fossil fuels. The UN insists that the kingdom will have to adopt innovative technologies such as solar power for its energy needs. The economic growth of Saudi Arabia has slowed down to an appreciable extent, on account of the global economic slowdown. Saudi Arabia has the largest oil reserves in the world, and it had made enormous profits by drastically increasing the price of oil, in the recent past. Consequently, it is not seriously affected by the current economic crisis. The insistence of the developed world to reduce the consumption of carbon-based fuels has drawn a sharp reaction from the Saudis.