Controversy, scandals, fraud, and corruption, surround the pharmaceutical industry (Big Pharma). The name Big Pharma stems from the massive multinational billion-dollar pharmaceutical industries/companies. These massive companies keep up the supply of American medicine cabinets and pharmacies. Pharmaceutical companies control manufacturing, pricing, marketing, drug trials, supply, etc. “The pharmaceutical industry is one of the most powerful forces in America” (Sanders, 2023). Big Pharma is extremely powerful and it is hard to stop price, manufacturing, and supply because they control the healthcare industry. They can set the market any way they want. However, pharmaceutical companies/industries can be sued; it is hard to punish every person …show more content…
Big Pharma can lie about what they do and how they do it, but once caught they downplay it and come up with excuses. Almost all Big Pharma companies engage in illegal marketing tactics to promote their drugs; such as Johnson and Johnson who had to pay billions of dollars in fines (Davies, 2021). Numerous lawsuits have been filed against almost all pharmaceutical companies. However, they can quickly pay off those fines and continue to participate in illegal and unethical tactics to boost their company. Not only are pharmaceutical giants engaging in unethical marketing, they are also corrupting the healthcare system. Enfield states that “.the official definition of organized crime closely matches the activities of the largest drug companies and demonstrates how big pharma has corrupted healthcare” (Enfield, 2020). Big Pharma is corrupting the U.S. healthcare system and everything Big Pharma does is organized crime planned and controlled by a large group. No matter how many times pharmaceutical companies are sued, they will always have something to fall back on, such as the government. The government has very little control over what Big Pharma does, and while crimes Big Pharma commits go to the justice system, Big Pharma has total control. Drug companies have public relations all over and they can portray themselves as research and educational institutions, but that means they don’t have to fess up to what is happening (The Pharmaceutical Industry, 2013). Many pharmaceutical companies can be seen as research and educational institutions, but no one knows what goes on behind the doors. Big Pharma has connections everywhere and it is not necessarily like one can boycott the pharmaceutical industry because many Americans rely on them for life-or-death medications. Not only does Big Pharma have major control, they have even taken their efforts to