[Stu Cohen]

Wouldn't that be where "Federal Grants" are necessary?

If it is completely non-profit and for no other motive than saving lives ... sure.

More generally, (pick your discipline), government has to step in and fund or help fund R&D precisely because it is not focused on the profit motive.

But, they are always focused on the profit motive. A company is not going to develop anything that they know they will take a loss on. They will just jack up the price to the point that it is profitable.

So, you have been forced to invest in a company, that turns around and makes a profit on your investment, without sharing the profits with you.

[sauropod]

A "free market" approach will end up putting a price on the value of a human life. This is what ultimately I am asking. Should we (as a society) put a dollar and cents value on life here?

[monkeywrench]

"So, you have been forced to invest in a company, that turns around and makes a profit on your investment, without sharing the profits with you."

Why does canada get the drugs so cheaply?