Item Details

abstract

Over the last two decades, pharmaceutical prices in the U.S. have risen at an unprecedented rate. As a result of the incentive structure through which the U.S. currently drives pharmaceutical development, pharmaceutical companies have made decisions that increasingly limit the ability of individuals and populations to obtain drugs necessary for their health. In light of this growing strain, the need for reform to the current U.S. incentive structure is becoming ever more clear. A multitude of solutions have been proposed, each offering their own unique strengths and limitations – and each hoping to navigate the enormously complex path to successful implementation.This thesis begins with an overview of the current dysfunction of pharmaceutical pricing in the U.S., and outlines the incentivization structure behind this dysfunction and how it has contributed to the current state of affairs. The thesis then examines one potential reform strategy – the Health Impact Fund – and how a hypothetical implementation of the strategy might perform in the U.S. Finally, this project assesses that hypothetical implementation of pharmaceutical incentive reform through the lens of Rawlsian Justice as Fairness. In doing so, it distills general insights that will help guide the implementation of any potential U.S. reform in the future – toward being both practically successful and morally just.

subject

Health Impact Fund

Justice as Fairness

Pharmaceutical Pricing

Pharmaceutical Reform

contributor

Carter, Jeremy (author)

King, Nancy MP (committee chair)

Hall, Mark (committee member)

Colgrove, Nicholas (committee member)

date

2021-01-13T09:35:31Z (accessioned)

2021-01-13T09:35:31Z (available)

2020 (issued)

degree

Bioethics (discipline)

identifier

http://hdl.handle.net/10339/97963 (uri)

language

en (iso)

publisher

Wake Forest University

title

A HEALTH IMPACT FUND IN THE U.S.: HOW A THEORETICAL IMPLEMENTATION OF THE HIF CAN INFORM FUTURE DRUG PRICING POLICY IN AMERICA

type

Thesis