A Cultural Lag Approach to Challenges Facing Specialty Pharmaceuticals

ABSTRACTBiologic and injectable specialty pharmaceuticals have long been used to treat diseases such as hemophilia and Gaucher's. Although expensive, managed care costs were offset by low incidence rates. As technology progressed, such products became more widely used. Today, controversies have emerged regarding creation, distribution, administration, and payment. These challenges illustrate Ogburn's cultural lag theory that technology advances more rapidly than application guidelines. This paper reviews the current issues regarding specialty pharmaceutical products and applies cultural lag theory to develop recommendations regarding management and marketing challenges associated with specialty pharmaceuticals and future pharmaceutical advances.