German patients get the latest drugs for just $11. Can such a model work in the U.S.?

LA Times ^ | 19 June 2019 | Noam N. Levey

[Theoria]

Patients who come to the Havelhöhe cancer clinic in the leafy outskirts of Germany’s capital are often very sick.

Struggling with advanced-stage cancers, many need strong doses of expensive, cutting-edge chemotherapy that can run into the hundreds of thousands of dollars.

But like all Germans, none of the patients sitting quietly in the infusion ward here pay more than 10 euros a prescription, or about $11. “We never talk about costs,” said Dr. Burkhard Matthes, a senior oncologist at the clinic.

Germany’s ability to provide citizens access to the latest drugs while keeping patients’ costs so low is made possible by a novel strategy launched in 2011 to rein in exploding prices that were threatening to bankrupt the nation’s healthcare system.

Mixing free-market incentives to encourage innovation with regulation and lots of transparency, Germany’s drug review process gives manufacturers the chance to bring new products to market and charge higher prices — but only if they can show the new medications are better than existing ones.

Nearly the entire process is open to the public, giving doctors, hospitals and patients access to not only new drugs, but also independent evaluations of how well they work.

[Theoria]

[SkyDancer]

How much is the government subsidizing the meds there?

[Gay State Conservative]

That can only happen because patients in the US pay *TOP DOLLAR* for drugs. IOW,we subsidize drug prices in basically every other country in earth.

[miss marmelstein]

If it’s so great, why are they late stage victims at all?

[dp0622]

Is that what’s going on?

SMH

I just paid 60 bucks for ear infection drops.

FIRST script was 250. I laughed and said get the next best.

If what you said is true, it is sickening.

[Theoria]

We subsidize many things for the world, ie safe shipping, defense, drugs etc

But, Germany is also know for their own drug r&d.

[Theoria]

[Clutch Martin]

It won’t work here, with welfare recipients and illegal immigrants getting medical care it’s going to suck the system dry.

[George Rand]

If you think the German drug-pipeline is a breeze, you should check out Korea and Japan. The FDA is a joke.

[Yo-Yo]

There is a step missing in the U.S. drug pricing model.

Drug companies setting aside money for the inevitable class action lawsuits a decade or more from drug launch claiming all sorts of harm, and seeking billions in compensation.

[DiogenesLamp]

How many German drug developing companies are there? Last I heard, everyone in Europe borrowed a page out of Canada's extortion book, and told drug companies that if they didn't sell below cost, they would revoke their patents.

The United States people are subsidizing Canada's medicinal drug supplies, and I believe it is also subsidizing Europe's medicinal drug supplies.

[Theoria]

Bayer, Merck Grp, Boehringer, etc. All big players.

[DiogenesLamp]

Years ago, Canada called all the major drug companies to a conference where it was explained to them that if they didn't allow Canada to buy their drugs at prices that Canada would decide, they were going to revoke their Canadian patents and allow any manufacturer in Canada to start producing drugs for which American drug companies have invested millions of dollars to develop.

All the drug companies agreed to this extortion because they had no choice.

Europe saw what Canada did and said "Us too!" And now American drug companies recover their costs of research and development from Americans, and the Europeans get greatly reduced drug prices than us.

You know if it is published in the Los Angeles Times, it's going to be some sort of lie.

[ReformedBeckite]

One thing missing in this article/and equation is taxes, what the article doesn’t say is most European countries pay up the butt in taxes for their (insert coughs) free health care. Most of those taxes are hidden into everything.

[dp0622]

How sickening.

We are DROWNING in debt at the personal, local, state and federal levels.

Buying 250 dollar drugs monthly doesn’t help!

[DiogenesLamp]

I've heard of Bayer and Merck, but I don't recognize the other two. How much of their research is done in Germany, and what sort of medications do they provide?

I suspect anything the Los Angeles Times prints, and I suspect anything announced by a Socialist nation regarding their medical system.

[DiogenesLamp]

How sickening.

I recall reading about it when it was happening. Yes, Canada is financing their socialized medicine by forcing American companies to sell at prices they dictate.

https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2019/05/02/america_needs_to_stop_subsidizing_europe_and_canadas_prescription_drugs.html

[onona]

Sure they can Bob, just ask for THALIDOMIDE !

[onona]

oooh, there you go, asking the tough questions !!