The cultural work of charity in US prescription drug markets

• In Event: Policies and Health

Abstract

Abstract: US Prescription drug prices are as incomprehensible as they are unaffordable. What strategies do pharmaceutical companies use to justify their prices and make them legible to politicians, who could regulate prices or restructure the pharmaceutical market? Through a qualitative analysis of federal congressional hearing transcripts from 2002-2024 on the topic of prescription drug pricing, I argue that charity emerged as a mutually acceptable solution for both congressional members and pharmaceutical executives. I find that (pharmaceutical sponsored) charity programs provide flexible meanings that reshape pharmaceutical prices in three ways: charity reconfigures high prices into “reasonable” prices, charity soothes moral concerns about placing profits over people, and charity helps rationalize the US healthcare system. These findings offer novel theoretical insights for scholars interested in medicine, markets, and the cultural meanings of charity. I offer a “multiple prices” framework to show how discount or charity programs concurrently solve problems of affordability and value.

Author

• Laura Halcomb, Virginia Tech