Improper dependencies slant policy over a drug’s life span, biasing the development of new drugs, the testing and marketing approval for new drugs, and the monitoring of patient safety after drugs are marketed. This article examines five ways in which the public improperly depend on...

Drug manufacturers face a fundamental conflict of interest. Pursuit of profit compromises their impartial assessment of their drugs’ benefits and risks. Their biased evaluation can corrupt public knowledge of drugs, lead to marketing unsafe and/or ineffective drugs, compromise medical practice...

Adverse drug events cause significant injuries to consumers. Between half and three-quarters of these injuries are uncompensated under tort law because they are not due to negligence or fraud. This article argues that fundamental fairness and sound economics favor holding manufacturers of...

To control costs and improve access, nations can adopt strategies employed in the United Kingdom to control pharmaceutical prices and spending. Current policy evolved from a system created in 1957 that allowed manufacturers to set launch prices, capped manufacturers’ rates of return, and later...

This article compares the means that the United States, France and Japan use to oversee pharmaceutical industry-physician financial relationships. These countries rely on professional and/ or industry ethical codes, anti-kickback laws, and fair trade practice laws. They restrict kickbacks the...

In this symposium of The Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics, 16 authors investigate the corruption of pharmaceutical policy, each taking a different look at the sources of corruption, how it occurs and what is corrupted. This introductory essay summarizes each article, discusses the key theme...

As U.S. policymakers consider strategies to control pharmaceutical spending they can learn from France, which has stopped drug spending growth without slowing access to innovative medicines. France determines the comparative therapeutic value of new drugs. Insurance pays more for drugs superior...