Argument analysis of the ethical claims made by the pharmaceutical industry regarding drug pricing

Background: Extreme pharmaceutical prices in the United States, their causes, and their ethical implications have been the subject of extensive research and criticism. What has often been overlooked, however, is that the pharmaceutical industry itself often uses ethics language and concepts when offering explanations for their prices, a framing that has not yet been adequately assessed in the context of industry actions. Methods: We conducted an argument analysis of publicly available pharmaceutical industry reports and U.S. Congressional testimony to extract commonly occurring claims regarding their pricing. Results: Starting with the argument that drug research and development are costly, the claims and justifications made in these reports and testimony often invoke common ethical concepts such as benefit, harm, fairness, and autonomy. The arguments and associated rhetoric are, however, often self-contradictory or poorly reflected in the reality of pharmaceutical companies’ actions and experiences in the marketplace. Conclusions: By delineating companies’ public-facing ethics language and identifying hypocritical discrepancies between industry rhetoric and actions.