Constructive My partner and I affirm the resolution, Resolved: The United States federal government should impose price controls on the pharmaceutical industry. Resolution Analysis: Price controls: the government setting prices for a product or service Pharmaceutical Industry: the industry that makes medicine Resolved: The federal government of the US should set prices for the industry that makes medicine. Framing Judge, this debate should be decided on corporate power and whichever side creates a world in which companies have lessened influence over consumers. If they ask for a link: Judge, what we’re trying to say under our framework is that price controls should be imposed because it’d combat the ever-growing corporate monopolies that have arisen that are bad because they force people to pay outrageous sums for lifesaving medication. Our sole contention is the monopolization of the healthcare industry. Subpoint A: Evergreening Abbas 19 explains that evergreening is a tactic used by pharmaceutical companies to extend the length of patents and the consequent monopoly they grant by making changes to said patented drugs in order to be eligible to re-file those patents. Collier 13 shows that the problem with evergreening is not the concept of refiling, but the fact that patient welfare often takes a backseat in the process. Collier elaborates that the changes made to these drugs are insignificant, and the sole reason companies re-file at all is to extend the exclusivity that those patents give their drugs. Having a patent on a drug gives companies monopolies on said medicines, allowing them to raise prices to their whim and hurt lower-income Americans in the process. A good example of this is insulin, where Lee 22 quantifies that from 2014 to 2019, insulin prices rose 54%, leaving more than 1 in 4 insulin users unable to afford the proper amount of the drug they need to survive. It doesn’t help that the 3 companies that have historically held the majority of insulin patents: Eli Lilly, Novo Nordisk, and Sanofi, have all faced accusations of the price gouging of their drugs - up to As the situation continues to grow direr and inaction is becoming a core theme at Congress’s current response to the drug pricing crisis, the impacts become clear: millions of people die from the inability to access affordable treatment onset by the patent exclusivity granted by evergreening. Witters 19 corroborates this in a poll where 58 million Americans reported that they struggled to afford drugs, with West Point Health estimating that 1.1 million people have died due to drug rationing or medicinal insecurity, with the solution lying right in the heart of this resolution. Alonso '21 reports that price controls have time and time again lowered the influence of corporate monopolies across the board, and affirming this resolution is a vital step to take in ensuring that the healthcare system as a whole sees vast reform. 150% in some cases - since 2015. Subpoint B: Predatory Insurance Laporte 16 corroborates that health insurance, while not legally mandatory yet culturally mandatory, plays a huge role in the need for price controls, and that imposition of said controls would inevitably rein in massive insurance companies and cease predatory practices directly related to the rise in drug costs. One of these practices is the concept of a clawback copay. A copay in and of itself is not a foreign practice; The HHS explains that the client pays their insurance a bit of money because they cover the cost of a drug for them. But while the costs are reasonable in certain cases, being either a fixed amount or a percentage, Hedt 18 quantifies that almost a quarter of all copayments unjustifiably exceed the cost of the drug itself, in a move called a clawback, where the money is taken by insurance companies simply to increase profit margins, particularly for advanced drugs. Rodwin 19 presents the empiric of France's pharma industry, where price controls and budget caps have successfully mitigated incidences of drug cost clawbacks due to higher federal regulation. As long as the US has yet to combat corrupt insurance practices neglecting consumer welfare, the impacts of inaction are clear, particularly for mental healthcare. Baer 18 concludes that the undeniable impact of coverage denial results in millions of people continuing to struggle to afford life-saving medicine out of pocket, leading to millions of avoidable hospitalizations and deaths. Imposing price controls on the pharmaceutical industry by affirming this resolution is a necessary step in finally putting patient welfare at the vanguard of our medical systems. Blockfile A2: Drug Shortages Delink: Judge, our opponents try to tell you that price controls lower pharmaceutical incentives to create generic drugs, however, The FDA writes that price controls don't mean that companies are paid less, but rather that the government covers most of the difference. This means that companies’ profit margins aren’t significantly affected by price controls, and no great danger arises by making drugs more affordable. A2: R&D Limitations Mitigate: Our opponents are trying to tell you that imposing price controls on drugs would lower R&D incentives for pharmaceutical companies because it lowers how much money they can make from them, however, Samp 20 explains that the government can easily set up infrastructure to help subsidize these costs, and in places like France, where the government has near-complete control over the pharmaceutical industry, this approach has historically worked and increased industrial productivity by more than 15%. A2: Practicality Collapsing SA Evergreening: Judge, our argument is very simple. We argue that patent exclusivity is being abused to grant monopolies to companies, leading to price-fixing that ends up hurting millions of Americans who struggle to pay for potentially life-saving medication, leading to increased hospitalizations and death. SB Predatory Insurance: Judge, our argument is very simple. We argue that predatory insurance companies claw back consumer copays and intentionally deny coverage for high-costing drugs, leaving many to pay extremely high costs for the drugs they need to survive, leading to increased hospitalizations and death.
