Opinion ID: 1403899
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: unique characteristics of drugs

Text: Because prescription drugs are chemical compounds designed to interact with the chemical and physiological processes of the human body, they will almost always pose some risk of side effects in certain individuals. Despite these risks, new drugs are continually approved by the FDA because of their social benefit in saving lives and alleviating human suffering. The health care system and general standard of living in this country, for example, would be seriously impaired without such essential drug products as antibiotics that allow quick recovery from ailments that were once debilitating or even fatal. See 37 Food, Drug & Cosmetic L.J. 15 (1982). In addition, because the expansion of tort liability is justified primarily on the basis of deterring or transferring the cost of injuries, it is appropriate to consider the increased costs that could result from the curtailment of the production of prescription drugs. One commentator notes: [D]rugs are our most cost-effective input in supplying the demand for health. A ten-dollar prescription is frequently a substitute for $2,000 worth of hospital services  a substitute that produces a positive outcome with much higher frequency than hospital care... . If we are serious about minimizing costs, our best bet is to increase the number of drug innovations. Brozen, Statements, Drugs & Health: Economic Issues and Policy Objectives, 305 (Helms ed. 1981) (emphasis added). Despite inherent risks, and in contrast to any other product, society has determined that prescription medications provide a unique benefit and so should be available to physicians with appropriate warnings and guidance as to use. The federal government has established an elaborate regulatory system, overseen by the FDA, to control the approval and distribution of these drugs. See 21 U.S.C. §§ 301-393. No other class of products is subject to such special restrictions or protections in our society.