There is something wrong here and I smell a democrap universal “health” plan.
When I was a wee lad in 1976 I used to order brand name Vibramycin (doxycycline) made by Pfizer at my clinic for about $500 for 500 capsules.
Now the generic version made in some bathtub in Mumbai is $1830/500.
This makes no sense which means that fedgov is involved somehow.
Actually, the Indian pharmaceutical industry (although some contamination incidents have occurred) is world leading and is not located in Mumbai.
I just got cash quotes from several pharmacies for 60 capsules of doxycycline monohydrate 100mg (generic) and the quotes were almost all between $100 and $150.
Did the same with 30 tablets of simvastatin 20mg (generic): The quotes were in the $20s and $30s.
None of these were manufactured by Sun, Cipla, or Ranbaxy.
Don't know what the deal is with the price quotes in the article.
If 500 capsules were $500 in 1976, and is now $1830 in 2014, then it is below inflation for those years. See Consumer Price Indicator calculator at link:
http://data.bls.gov/cgi-bin/cpicalc.pl?cost1=500&year1=1976&year2=2014
The figure that really bothers me is the fact that the “one time death benefit” at Social Security has not been increased from $255 since 1957(?). It should now be above $2,000 and was meant for a no frills funeral or cremation or to help one pay rent or food for a couple of months. Here is something to really call your Congress critters about.