When Missouri families can’t afford medicine, something’s broken

For the last three years, my husband and I have called St. Louis home. He teaches at Kenrick-Glennon Seminary, our families are here and we’ve made a lot of friends who have welcomed us in and treated us like family.

In recent years, one of those families, along with another we befriended at a previous place of employment,  have both gone through tremendous difficulties as the prices of critical medical treatments have skyrocketed. One family has a son with Type 1 diabetes; the other has a daughter with allergy problems. Both families have had to revamp their budgets — in the first case, simply to keep their child alive, and in the second to forestall possible worst-case scenarios.

None of this is a surprise when Big Pharma has put profits ahead of people for decades. Even recent news that some weight-loss treatments may become more affordable can’t hide how expensive medicine is in America.

For example, the EpiPen that cost $100 in 2007 was over $600 in 2017, and prices continue to rise. Weight loss drug Ozempic went from roughly $675 in 2017 to almost $1,000 today — with a 50% reduction if you can pay in cash. Insulin costs have nearly tripled since the early 2000s. Even common antibiotics and asthma inhalers now come with shocking price tags.

EpiPens, insulin and many other critical drugs and medications are not optional for families. They are everyday essentials for quality of life and even to just stay alive.

Our friends whose child experiences anaphylaxis from contact with certain allergens need her to have an EpiPen 24/7. At current prices, their family budget revolves around the cost of these life-saving devices.

For the friends whose child has Type 1 diabetes, every refill of insulin means cutting corners — cheaper meals, waiting for car repairs and reducing holiday spending even if it impacts family traditions.

I understand that pharmaceutical companies need to make a profit. Research and development takes time, expertise and risk, and companies have to somehow incentivize those who make it all happen.

But the profit motive goes too far when it comes at the expense of human life.

With most things that we buy, like gas, groceries, and clothes, there are plenty of options for people with different levels of income and desires. The same isn’t true for pharmaceutical companies that provide critical and rare medications. My friends have to pay what the company decides, unless their insurance company can somehow negotiate the price down.

And it’s not as though Big Pharma behaves like a cash-strapped industry frantically trying to find the next life-saving cure. The industry is the biggest lobby in Washington and is generating hundreds of billions of dollars annually with plenty of cash for investor stock buybacks. The digital and television ads seem endless.

If Big Pharma can spend billions convincing us that we should buy its products, surely it can afford to put people ahead of profits, especially since Americans a) provide tens of billions of tax dollars to Pharma’s research and development, b) pay multiples of what other countries pay and c) are one of the only targets of Pharma ads in the world (among high-income nations, only New Zealand also allows unrestricted direct-to-consumer advertising).

Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley has proposed a bill that could make a difference, advocating for tariffs that will pressure pharmaceutical companies to finally put Americans first. He’s also introduced bipartisan legislation to rein in drug prices. Whether or not you agree with these solutions, it’s good that Missouri has a senator trying to make the system work for ordinary people.

It also shows that this issue doesn’t belong to one party or ideology. High drug prices hurt Democrats, Republicans and independents alike. They harm people who live in cities and on farms, young families and retirees and especially the sick.

Medicine should heal — not bankrupt — the people it’s meant to help. It’s time for both parties to show the same level of commitment to families as these companies show to their shareholders.

Families won’t care who gets credit. All my friends care about is taking care of their kids.