As I type away on my computer, my nose is running and my eyes are itching. I know that I'm not actually sick, I've just made the fatal mistake of cracking open a window on a nice day before taking my allergy medicine.
I am not alone in this. Approximately 8% of Americans experience spring allergies from pollen, mold, dust, etc. For reference, the population of America is 328.2 million people, so that would be approximately 26.25 million people suffering from these allergies.
This really got me thinking. With such a huge market that is absolutely captive (as they can't live their day without sneezing constantly if they don't take some medicine), just how much is the allergy market worth worldwide?
(https://www.aafa.org/allergy-facts/)
That is insane. That is 18 billion dollars that have to be spent to live a healthy life, talk about capitalism winning out. If you were to include food allergies, you could tack on another 25 billion USD to that total...
There are three common types of allergy medicine (we won't get too technical here):
These are sprays or creams that are used to block allergic reactions. Examples include Nasonex spray from Merck or an inhaler for Asthma.
These accomplish the same thing but are typically taken via pill. Good examples include Claritin or Zyrtec and they function by blocking the Histamine chemicals in our body that triggers allergic reactions.
These work by restricting blood flow to the nose by constricting blood vessels. Examples include Sudafed and Afrin.
There are a few more, but these provide the scope for most of the drugs.
Let's take a look at the top 10 OTC brands by revenue/year in the US as of 2016.
It appears that the drugs with the letter D in them just also contain a decongestant quality in addition to their usual function
These drugs take advantage of a seasonal issue that is ultimately unavoidable for millions of people. Obviously the economic effect of this is different depending on what type of healthcare and prescription cost your country operates with, but it is a real cash cow in America where the cost of our healthcare system is something that is scoffed at globally.
I have been taking Claritin or Zyrtec for probably 10 years now. I can say they are quality products and you do get what you pay for, it just sucks that it is an unavoidable cost. I would like to stop sneezing, so it is quite needed.
I am no politician. I am not in a position at this moment to propose a policy that could guarantee allergy medicines for those who are unable to afford it.
With such massive revenues, we are continuing to create multi-billion dollar industries in sectors that people genuinely rely on for their personal health and safety. I do not really have an opinion at this time on the ethics of the situation, but there is a lot of room for charging more than necessary for the products as people rely on them so much.
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