The pharmaceutical industry produces drugs for both diseases and medical conditions. There are three types of drugs; curable, preventive and palliative. Pharmaceutical companies spent approximately $51.1 billion in 2013 to discover and develop new drugs. Over the past decade, more than 300 new pharmaceutical products have been approved by the FDA. There are currently 2,900 different drugs being studied in the United States. (http://www.phrma.org/about#sthash.yWixx0ku.dpuf) Before release for consumption, these drugs must be approved for use and follow a series of laws and principles regarding testing and safety of each single drug. Funding is the main social factor in the pharmaceutical industry and has a huge effect on research. New pharmaceutical products in the United States must be officially approved by the FDA for both safety and effectiveness. Pharmaceutical researchers are discovering new and improved drug designs that satisfy customers to make them more desirable to consumers. The pharmaceutical industry sometimes misleads the general population into using drugs that may be harmful. Just like in other industries, pharmaceutical companies assemble products that they would sell for profit so that the company survives and succeeds. Recently, there have been repeated claims and findings that clinical trials conducted by the pharmaceutical industry report only positive results for ideal financial outcomes. Legal issues surrounding pharmaceuticals have emerged lately. Now, some companies are being scrutinized much more closely than ever by consumers and, more importantly, government agencies. Drug innovation and development is expensive and only a small percentage of discovered compounds become... middle of paper... ...we would have gotten more money for drug research if people in third world countries weren't been poor. Today, researchers have difficulty funding orphan drugs. Orphan drugs are drugs intended for the treatment of rare diseases. There is pressure to develop these drugs because researchers can develop them, but there is a huge financial problem that researchers face. If researchers developed a drug for orphan patients, they might not make any profit from the drug. Today, in this world, the only thing people care about is their money. People will do anything to get that extra bonus on their paycheck. Funding is the main social factor for the pharmaceutical industries and has a huge effect on research. Drug development and improvement are expensive and research time can be limited. These are some of the social factors that enter into research on the pharmaceutical industry.