ADS Capstone Chronicles Revised
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1 Introduction Adverse reactions to pharmaceutical drugs are agrowingpublichealthissue.Thereare many aspects to consider when deciding to take a new drug and the potential for harmful side effects. Consumers may lack theinformationnecessarytomakeinformed decisions and can be influenced by the business agenda of doctors, health insurance, and pharmaceutical companies. Historically,thereisalotofambiguityabout theadverseeffectsofdrugsbecauseclinical trial research often has bias, small sample sizes, and thus cannot account for nuanced individual differences related tosideeffects (Galeano & Paccanaro, 2022). This project compiles various sources of druginformationfromgovernmentagencies and academic repositories to create user-friendly applications of drug-related data.Individualscanbenefitfromaresource thatdisplaysinformationaboutthepotential of an adverse reaction from specific drugs, including the compound, price, and demographics of thepatientinquestion.By modeling risk for adverse effects through assessment of drug composition and historicalADRdata,userscanassesspatient risk for certain drugs in a comprehensive, precise, automated application. 2 Background According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 48.6% of Americans have used prescription drugs in the past 30 days (CDC, 2023). The pharmaceutical drug industry made almost 900 billion dollars in 2022 and is expected to grow 5.36% year-over-year from now until 2030, gaining another 4 billion in profits (1.3 trillion dollars) with the advancements of AI in drug manufacturing and research (Yahoo Finance, 2024). The pharmaceutical industry has a history of underreportingadverseeventsduetobiasin
clinical trial research, mislabeling drugs or misleading marketing to gain market share, promotingoff-labelusesofdrugstoincrease profits, and using financial coercion by giving healthcare providers attractive kick-backsforprescriptions(Pharmaceutical Technology, 2019). This history highlights the financial prioritiesoftheindustryrather than patient safety. Pharmaceutical manufacturers have out-priced rates of inflation year-over-year since the start of the global COVID pandemic (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services [HHS], 2023). Toeasethe financial burden of drug costs, the Biden administration passed the Inflation Reduction Act in 2022 (HHS, 2024) which requires pharmaceutical manufacturers to reimburse Federal agencies for drug costs higher than the rateofinflation.Theefforts of the government highlight the need for pharmaceuticaldrugregulation.Ananalysis by the FDA shows that generic drug productionincreasescompetitionformarket share which leads to lower drug costs overall for consumers(FDA,2023a).Given the influence of this industry on consumer health and finances, adverse events that result from taking pharmaceuticaldrugsare a public health concern and burden, especially as the industry continues to grow. Adverse reactions and high drug prices affect vulnerable populations like the elderly, people with chronic or terminal illnesses, and low-income families. If a patient pays a high cost for prescriptions, and then suffers from an adverse reaction whichrequiresadditionalmedicaltreatment, the additive burden for people impacts not only physical health, but also financial stability and mental health. Since 1968,the FDA has been collecting reportsofadverse drug events from the public to increase pharmaceutical manufacturer accountability
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