Ninth grade students in Stephanie Hurt’s English class at Brodhead High School have participated in the National Writing Project’s College, Career, and Community-Ready Writer’s Program (C3WP) all year. Students learned to consider multiple perspectives around an issue and to write evidence-based arguments asking for change. For their final argument, students chose an issue they care about, researched the conversation surrounding the issue, and wrote an evidence-based letter to a real audience, such as these letters to the editor. 

From Alex Slater

Brodhead High School

To the editor:

Imagine having someone you knew such as your parents or some close relative you know not having the money to get the drug to function on a normal day. Some people in the world today are not able to survive without their dally medicine. But most importantly people might not be able to function day to day without their drugs that are too expensive Prescription drug medications are becoming too expensive. 

According to the New York Times article, “Does Medicare Need to be Reformed?” Facts: Martin Shkreli, the former hedge fund manager who, upon acquiring the rights to a critical drug for patients with life-threatening infections, raised its price to $750 from $13.50 per tablet. The events is proving that prescription drug costs have gone up drastically throughout the years and this problem needs to be fixed soon.

According to Main Public “On a per capital basis, inflation-adjusted retail prescription drug spending in the U.S. increased from $90 in 1960 to $1,025 in 2017, according to Peterson-Kaiser’s Health System Tracker. Why are prescription drug prices so high, what effects do these costs have on people, and what can be done about it? We discuss some of the legislation that has been introduced to address this escalating problem.” According to what this evidence is showing it is showing and proving why drug costs are skyrocketing globally. Finally drug costs are too expensive for some people around the world so it’s harder to get them to people you know and care about and if that happens how do you know you could have changed the problem and helped the person with their medications and their problems and issues an if you can’t help them it will hurt them and not help them.