When Drug Companies Overcharge For Medication, Americans Die
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Politics and Activism

Dear Drug Companies Overcharging For Medication, You're Putting A Price Tag On Human Life

People shouldn't die because medication is too expensive. Hopefully, everyone can agree on that regardless of political leaning.

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Dear Drug Companies Overcharging For Medication, You're Putting A Price Tag On Human Life

The topic of how healthcare is handled in America has been an especially hot-button topic for quite a while now. While some argue that healthcare is a privilege that not everybody is entitled to, others say that a hospital visit should not forever put someone in debt from medical bills, and I'm inclined to agree. We live in a world where people need urgent medical attention are hesitant to call an ambulance because of how much money it will cost.

Worse, diabetic Americans are dying — not from a disease that's incurable or untreatable, but because they cannot afford their medication. Americans who do not have insurance find themselves paying as much as $500 a month (or more) out of pocket just to stay alive, and sometimes insurance doesn't help that much anyway. People find themselves rationing their insulin until the next time they are able to pay, but in the cases of those who passed away, it didn't help.

In high school, I took a class called "theory of knowledge" where we debated whether the right to healthcare should be available for every US citizen. We read a speech by a politician who argued against universal healthcare, citing that not everybody gets the right to have everything they want. For example, not everybody got to go to Disney World, even if they really wanted to.

But the right to healthcare is not the same thing is wanting to go to Disney World. One is the desire to enjoy a theme park, while the other is the fundamental right to live.

It should not be a controversial statement to make, but perhaps it is: people should not die because they can't afford their medical treatments.

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