In the past 20 years, spending in all areas of health care has increased dramatically. In 1980, the national health expenditure per capita was $1,067. In 2000, our country spent $4,681 per person on health-care [6]. Expenditures on prescription drugs have played a major role in driving up our country’s health care costs, in fact, increasing at a rate twice as great as overall health care costs [6]. My honors thesis examined the reasons for skyrocketing prescription drug spending, methods to create less expensive prescription drug delivery systems, and economic and ethical issues within the pharmaceutical industry. The following is a brief summary of the main points in my paper.