Kohlberg’s moral development assignment

Kohlberg’s ” social contract and individual rights” gives a great explanation as to why people avoid their own country’s health care system and take advantage of their neighboring countries. Kohlberg says that all rational people will follow two common points, stating that they want certain basic rights, such as liberty and life. So, with that being said, people seeking medical help in other countries are doing just that. Those citizens are using the freedom they are granted by the government to go and take advantage of cheaper medications across borders so they can continue on with their lives.

However, there is some justice in the pharmaceutical industry. They are supplying the people of this country with the medicine they need—and much like everyone else, they, too, are just trying to pursue their basic rights. On the other hand, the pharmaceutical industry could be viewed as taking advantage of the people they provide medicine to because they are the only source of the medicine—which is an entirely better argument.

People in search of democratic change often first break the law before the government recognizes that change is needed; people venturing to other countries is an example of that. Early stages of democratic change in the medical industry are happening every day. The only problem with that is: it is set in the health care industry’s minds that change occurring now is not likely. Many U. S. citizens are aware of this and do whatever they can to get what they need, even if it is frowned upon by the government.

In my opinion, it is the government’s fault people go with this alternative. After my research, I noticed a trend within the pharmacies. General pharmacies: CVS, Walgreen’s, and Rite-Aid generally have the same prices for each medicine. Because Wal-Mart is a much larger company, they can afford to sell medicine for less. Canadian Pharmacies, where healthcare is lower all around, has the lowest price for each medicine. The family pharmacies seem to ” sell to their area. Greystone, being an upscale area, charges more for the same medicines that Harbin’s, which is in a lower income area, sells for less. Something else that could affect the price would be that fact that each pharmacy has a different contract set up with each supplier of medicine. The same insufficiency caused by the escalating demand for oil is only part of what finances lack of inexpensive drug—those which are easily manufactured. In my opinion, if our society really knew what goes on concerning pharmaceutical companies, they would take matters nto their own hands and more seriously. Other countries don’t allow this terrible way of handling things and this abuse of the public. To make matters worse, they get tax credits for their research, as well as being able to subtract their fees. To make matters even worse, most of those drugs are practiced and carefully researched using federal grant money, which is supposed to be our tax money. Then, they get more money when they market the drugs.

With that being said, doctors are as equally held responsible—they buy and sell drug stock, then prescribe the newer and more expensive drugs. There was a study a couple years back done on Plavix, which is a medicine taken to treat heart problems. In the end, it was actually discovered to be less effective than aspirin. Even with that knowledge, it is now marketed to take with aspirin. Doctors recognize this and still call in Plavix simply because it is an expensive and high-priced drug. The way I see it, doctors are only concerned with their own profit, and that is extremely selfish.