Many prescription drug dangers are the result of a lack of government influence and oversight in the pharmaceutical industry. It is a business that has free reign to manage itself (Perkins). This creates many problems for American consumers. One of these problems is the outrageously high prices of pharmaceutical products. They are nearly impossible to afford for those without insurance or with insurance that does not cover prescription drugs. Studies conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation show that “employer-sponsored private health insurance premiums increased 13.9 percent this year, the most since 1989,” a trend that is expected to continue for many years to come (Coy ). The rising costs of health insurance along with the already high prices of prescription drugs make it difficult for many Americans to afford pharmaceutical products. Pharmaceutical companies justify the high prices by saying how expensive research and development of a new drug is. For once, this is a truthful statement from these companies. Research and development is a long and expensive process. However, pharmaceutical companies are much less involved in research and development than they would like us to believe. Big pharmaceutical companies actually contribute very little to the research and development of a new drug. Marcia Angell talks about the research and development process in her book on pharmaceutical companies saying, “Contrary to industry propaganda, it is almost always carried out in universities or government research laboratories, both in this country and abroad.” (21-22). Professors and students at universities around the world conduct research and develop new drugs for pharmaceutical companies. Every year pharmaceutical companies make huge profits by providing little funding for research and development, while their research is...halfway there......on the company's new asthma drug called Advair, which was not nothing more than a combination drug of two of the company's older drugs." No changes were made to either drug; they were just combined and marketed under a new name as a new drug (Peterson 17). The color of a pill is also used as a marketing tool in an attempt to give personality to the pills. Consultants at IMS Health said: “Pink is perceived as calming and may be suitable for cardiac medications or tranquilizers, while bright colors such as red suggest action and rapid stimulation and may therefore be appropriate for a painkiller or antidepressant.” The same marketing tool Coca-Cola used with the color red, where the bright color represented the “fizzy” taste of Coca-Cola. The focus is more on the color of the pill than what it does or what it cures in companies like AstraZeneca's marketing campaigns (Peterson 18).