Capitalism vs. Compassion.
Developing a new drug can cost a pharmaceutical company billions of dollars and take a decade of research. However, once the formula is perfected, producing the pill often costs pennies. Should corporations be allowed to charge exorbitant prices for life-saving medicine to satisfy their shareholders, or does healthcare belong in the realm of basic human rights? In this unit, we explore the vocabulary of medical monopolies.
- Big Pharma (noun): A collective, often derogatory term for the massive, multinational pharmaceutical companies that dominate the global healthcare industry.
- Patent (noun): A government authority or license conferring a right or title for a set period, especially the sole right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention.
- Pandemic (noun): An outbreak of a disease that occurs over a wide geographic area (such as multiple countries or continents) and typically affects a significant proportion of the population.
1. Raw Vocabulary: The Medical Monopoly
Practice: Drag the correct term into the healthcare debate!
1. Because the company held the exclusive patent, they had a total on the life-saving treatment.
2. Activists argue that charging $1,000 for a pill that costs $2 to make is legalised .
3. Once the 20-year patent expires, other companies can finally produce cheap, versions of the drug.
4. During the health crisis, the government agreed to heavily the vaccine so that all citizens could get it for free.
5. It took scientists nearly ten years to isolate the compound and the artificial cure in the lab.
6. The rapid spread of the virus within the city was officially declared an by the health department.
2. Idioms and Expressions
When discussing the collision of immense wealth and human suffering, these idioms capture the cynicism of the debate.
- "A bitter pill to swallow." A highly unpleasant or painful fact or situation that one is forced to accept.
- "To hold someone hostage." In this context, to use someone's desperate situation (like needing medicine to survive) to force them to pay unreasonable demands.
- "To line one's pockets." To make a large amount of money for oneself in a way that is considered greedy or dishonest.
- "To put a price on a life." To attempt to assign a financial value to a human being's survival, often questioning the morality of doing so.
3. Reading: The $1,000 Pill
Read about a notorious (and common) pricing scandal in the medical industry.
In 2015, a hedge fund manager bought the patent for a drug that was widely used to treat parasitic infections. The medication, which had been on the market for decades, previously cost only $13 a pill. Overnight, the new CEO raised the price to $750 a pill.
Because no generic alternatives were legally allowed to be sold, patients who relied on the drug to survive were effectively held hostage. The CEO defended the price hike, arguing that the profits, which lined the pockets of shareholders, would be used to fund future research.
The public was outraged, calling it pure extortion. For many desperate families, the realisation that Big Pharma could legally put a price on a life was a bitter pill to swallow. Governments were pressured to intervene and break the monopoly, sparking a massive debate over whether medical patents should be abolished during severe epidemics.
4. Grammar Focus: Defining vs. Non-Defining Relative Clauses
When reporting complex facts, you need to add details to your sentences. A Defining Clause gives essential information to identify *which* specific thing you mean. A Non-Defining Clause just adds "extra" bonus information to something we already identified.
| Type | Punctuation & Pronouns | Meaning & Example |
|---|---|---|
| Defining (Essential) |
NO COMMAS. Can use: who, which, that |
Identifies exactly which one. "The company that raised the prices was sued." (Only the specific company that did this.) |
| Non-Defining (Extra Info) |
USES COMMAS. Can use: who, which NEVER USE 'THAT' |
Adds bonus facts about a known subject. "PharmaCorp, which made billions last year, was sued." (We already know the company is PharmaCorp. The billions is just extra info.) |
Pro Tip: The most common mistake native speakers make in writing is using "that" after a comma. Never do it!
Exercise A: Choose the Correct Pronoun
1. Defining (Essential): The specific medicine ____________ saves lives should never be restricted by patents.
2. Non-Defining (Extra Info with commas): The new vaccine, ____________ was developed incredibly fast, proved to be highly effective.
Exercise B: Complete the Expressions
Type the missing words to complete these conversational idioms.
1. The CEO doesn't care about patients; he is only interested in lining his own .
2. Realising that the government would not subsidize the treatment was a very bitter to swallow.
5. The Hot Seat: Debate Practice 🎙️
- If a company spends ten years and a billion dollars to synthesize a cure, do they deserve a monopoly to make their money back?
- Is it fair to call high pharmaceutical pricing extortion, or is it just the harsh reality of free-market capitalism?
- Use a Non-Defining Relative Clause (with a pause for the comma): "Big Pharma, which..." (Add extra information about the industry).
- During a global pandemic, should governments be allowed to break corporate patents so that cheap generic drugs can be made instantly?
- Do you believe it is possible to ethically put a price on a life when determining health budgets?
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