Medicines Buy Companies Money United Americans Describing Symptoms

Companies that create new medicines must spend a lot of money on research and development. These companies want to know that they will receive money for these medicines once they are ready to be sold to "consumers" (buyers). For this reason, the United States allows these companies to "patent" (legally protect) their medicines.

This patent system guarantees that for a certain period of time no other company is allowed to sell the same medicine. All of the money from sales of the medicine during this time is kept by the original company. This patent system is good for the companies that create medicines because it lets them earn back the money they spent on research. It also gives them an "incentive" or a good reason to continue researching and developing new medicines. However, it makes medicine extremely expensive for consumers in the United States.

For this reason, many Americans cannot afford to buy the medicines that they need. Fortunately, there are some ways to avoid paying high prices. Some people buy only "generic" (not name brand) medicines, which are much cheaper than branded medicines, but contain the same medicine. Other people pay for "prescription drug" (medicine recommended by a doctor) insurance, which pays for a certain percentage of the cost of their medicines.

A popular way to avoid paying high prices for medicine is to buy medicines from other countries. For example, most medicines are much less expensive in Canada than in the United States, so some Americans choose to go on vacation in Canada to buy medicines to bring home or buy them online. Many doctors and politicians are concerned about the safety of buying medicines in other countries where quality may not be as high, but until the price of medicines goes down, many Americans will continue to buy their medicines from other countries.