To begin this topic, we will discuss medication. People do not realize the importance of lowering the cost of medicine. Medicines that are required for you, your families, your friends, and your pets to survive are almost always ungodly expensive. 

 

An example would be insulin. Insulin is a hormone that is required for people who suffer from diabetes. For those who do not know, diabetes is an organ-specific autoimmune disease that causes the lack of ability of your body to turn food into energy. That causes dangerously low blood sugar levels in people with diabetes, which causes them to need insulin. Hypoglycemia (Low blood sugar) without the proper treatment will eventually lead to death; however, an insulin pump costs $4.5k to $6.5k, and additional supplies for the pump may cost another 1.5k dollars.

 

This has caused discourse about whether stealing medication is warranted or justified. Especially in recent years, stealing medication (or other things they need, like baby food, diapers, women’s cleanliness products, etc.) has increased because of the ever-growing cost of any products due to inflation.

 

People who argue against unlawful stealing say that “The price of medication is increasing because people are stealing, and companies are not getting paid for the work they do to get these products manufactured and brought to you. Then this causes the working class to lose money due to it.” But is this the case? People who agree that stealing in this situation is justified argues that “If everyone began paying for these expensive products, then supply and demand would take place and ultimately increase the cost of medication.”

 

Since the businesses that provide these products make them so expensive, they are worth a lot of money. Tylenol is a company owned by Johnson & Johnson, and Johnson & Johnson is worth $175.124 billion. So, does this company need to increase its products’ worth?

 

 

Do you think that people are justified in stealing medicine from companies?

 

Is stealing justified under any circumstances?

 

Should companies lower the prices of their products to prevent stealing?


https://answersingenesis.org/morality/is-stealing-okay-if-youre-getting-something-you-need/
https://aspe.hhs.gov/reports/prescription-drug-price-increases

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  • I think that they do need to lower the prices on things that people litterally need. Yeah it's not right to steal but if you were about to die because you need something you don't really have another option. I think that lowering prices would prevent stealing because people would be able to afford it.

  • It's deplorable for a person to be in a scenario where they have no choice but to steal for something as important as their health. I have pity on people in those scenarios, and less so for a company making billions of dollars. I think making choices for your own health that are made under desperate conditions is not immoral. I believe it is immoral for companies to be pricing necessities for living as high as they do. 

    • The government needs to step in to help regulate the pricing of medication in the United States. These companies do not need the money they are regurgitating out of consumers. Life should not depend on whether a company decides to lower its prices or not.

  • I mean, it is in the law that stealing anything owned by someone else is against the law. But let's just say that person doesn't care about that particular item or doesn't know that they took it. I say no harm no foul. And If that person's life was in danger so much, that that is the only way they could have lived, I think it was justified. 

  • I don’t think that stealing is justified. Some people steal to help themselves or help someone else. I can see why some companies don’t or can’t lower the prices on stuff because they still have to pay all of their employees. If they lower the prices they might have to let some people go or they would have to lower some of the employee's pay.

    • I believe with the large amounts of medication that are bought each year (Not to mention how sales would skyrocket if the price went down), that the people who work those jobs wouldn't need to be laid off or have their wages lowered.

  • No, I do not think that stealing is ever justified.  The people they steal from have to work just as hard for money as everyone else.  I think that appropriation is terrible.  Companies cannot lower their prices because they won't be able to pay for their employees. 

  • I think the price of the product needs to depend on the quality of the product. stealing is never justified. i think the only thing/things that need their price lowered are medicines and other health products sold at the drug stores. 

  • No, stealing is never justified, although it may deal with your health. That doesn't mean you need to break the rules, by doing it the right way it may cost more, but you are doing the right thing. I do think that companies should lower the cost of drugs though, high drug prices lead to lots of debt for Americans. So by lower the cost, this can cause less debt in America.

    • The amount of money that it costs Americans to buy required medication, compared to other countries, is scary. I agree with you when you mention companies lowering costs, most medications cost lower than fractions of the cost they're bought for to create. For example, Tylenol (Acetaminophen) costs $0.07 per capsule to create and regularly costs $13 for 24 tablets. Johnson & Johnson now makes $11.32 more than it costs to create.

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