Posted on 07/12/2016 11:54:55 AM PDT by Kaslin
Gates is right on this (and I *never* say Gates is right about much of anything).
We will have full on deathcare.....Rx meds will only be for the ruling elite, us little people won’t get any.
They need to better explain to folks how drugs sold her in the US cost much less in other countries around the world, for the same drug.
Well said.
I also am AMAZED that Gates showed some common sense here............
The Obama Administration and the Democrats want to demonize and shake down the pharmaceutical industry which is one of the few truly functional industries we have left.
Obama has really hurt the industry and their are lots of closings, liquidations and cut backs taking place .
We are on the threshold of a new era of miracle cure type products drug treatments that may revolutionize health care and drastically cut health care costs.
We should be pushing this but instead we are killing one of the last goose the lays the golden egg we have left that we have not already killed .
Oooooohhh, you’re so right.
Let’s see how Venezuela or Burma or Sweden develop and finance their pharmas.... they’re soooooo much smarter than we are.
/SARC
You mean the fact that other countries, by law, are subsidizing their health care on the backs of America’s industry, which is paid for by American customers?
The US should deduct the differential per dose times the number of doses sold in each country from its foreign aid budget for that country, including sending invoices for those countries who do not get enough US foreign aid to cover the difference.
Gates is no dummy. Any populist movement that could turn on the pharma industry like this would no doubt have Windows in its sights next.
None of these price increases represent development costs as the medications have been on the market for quite a while and any amortization costs should remain the same.
The price increase are probably pure greed. Do not give me the free market crap as a consumer has no bargaining power against "Big Pharma." Price controls must be imposed. The Free Market crap applies to wheat and other homogeneous products NOT unique items. Price controls must be imposed.
“Price controls must be imposed. “
I’m not a big fan of price controls but you are right, the pricing scheme via free market seems broken in the US. The only time a drug will drop to something affordable is when the patent runs out and other makers jump in. Look at Nexium, it went from a few hundred a month to $40, or something like that.
I am not a big fan of price controls. However, the flaw in the “Free Market” model is the simple fact the consumer has no bargaining position against “Big Pharma,” the product itself is unique and often is needed by its users to save their life. The aforementioned facts leave the field wide open to human greed. The high cost of R&D can be met by extending the amortization period.
Encouraging medical R&D and reducing regulatory burdens would sound like “corporate bailouts” to the Democratic party masses.
WE DONT NEED ANYONE TO EXPLAIN THAT socialized anything is no good... central planning is always a failure
free markets work...
The reason drug prices are going up so crazily is that big pharma is trying to get the maximum profits they can in expectation of future massive government regulation—and some companies temporarily have a government protected monopoly position because government regulation on new or improved drugs have raised ridiculously high barriers to entry.
In such an environment price controls will be the equivalent of banning the drug from the market.
So this is not a free market vs price control choice you have here.
Some suggestions for the real world:
(1) Dosage control—yeah the doc says you need the full dose, but maybe a half a dose or a quarter of a dose can address the issue. Do research, get a second opinion, etc.
(2) Natural alternatives—do the research, and remember you do not have to do all or nothing. Sometimes lowering the dose in combination with a natural solution can meet your needs.
(3) Most important—have a heart to heart with your doctor. If they will not engage you on this topic find another doctor.
“Obama has really hurt the industry and their are lots of closings, liquidations and cut backs taking place .”
-
Obama has hurt EVERYTHING except BLM and radical Islam.
.
“The total cost and time of bringing a single new drug to market is now $2.6 billion, per the Tufts Center for the Study of Drug Development, and averages 10 years of development.”
That’s 20,000 man-years of $130,000/year/person labor.
“For things like Alzheimer’s”
The best thing I’ve found for memory is table sugar, $1.86 for four pounds at Wal-Mart.
Eggs are a modest second-best and meat has very modest positive effects on memory.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.