Obviously, these drugs are worth only what one is willing to pay for it.
If you’ve got one foot on a banana peel and the other in a grave, then they’re worth the world to you if they are what’s keeping you out of that grave.
The real question is when do the prices on drugs become usury?
There are laws banning loan-sharking and usurious interest rates. Should we be putting limits on usurious drug prices? $475k/yr for a Kymriah treatment for certain types of blood cancers, Yescarta costs $373,000. The brain tumor treatment called Alecensa is priced at nearly $160,000 a year.
This certainly feels like loan-shark type prices.
The question becomes what are the manufacturing costs, shelf life, and volume(s). I would think a 100% markup is probably enough, most medical device makers charge 350% markups.
*** THE DRUG IS THE PRIVATE PROPERTY OF THE COMPANY ***
While I agree, it’s offensive to charge obscene amounts for drugs, the flawed assumption by all the presumed “conservatives” here is that “the people” somehow have a RIGHT to that drug.
You don’t realize it, but you’re using socialist arguments. Now you say you want the deep state to restrict this company’s freedom to charge what they want for their products (at gunpoint, no less).
Do you all realize that the company also has the right to cease selling their drug?
What would happen if they decided to cease to sell their drug?
And if their drug isn’t generic, they could also sue to prevent competitors from using their formula to make/sell a generic.
The company no doubt spent millions of dollars developing the drug. The company did the research for the drug.
So the drug is their PRIVATE PROPERTY. We, the people, have no “rights” to that drug at certain prices.
Sometimes, yes. Sometimes, no.
A relative of mine was taking OpDivo. I don't know what it cost, but it didn't help him and he stopped taking it. He couldn't tolerate the side-effects. Apparently the average overall survival benefit of this treatment is about 90 days.
I think that is a point that a lot of people miss. Most drugs are not miracle pills. They extend survival for sick people but they don't necessarily make everyone whole again. It's tragic when an eight-year-old dies from cancer. We would all be willing to make sacrifices to prevent such a tragedy.
It's also tragic when a 69-year-old Freeper dies for whatever reason. But there are limits on what society should be compelled to sacrifice to buy more days for such a person. Today if an unfortunate person is denied a benefit because a drug company charges a lot, we read all about it in detail. Tomorrow, if the government mandates certain behaviors from drug companies we may never know how many lives might be lost from such bad policies. We can certainly see how bad government policies affect places like Venezuela.
I'll probably get grief for saying this, but if my choices are to spend every penny I have for medicine, or die, I'll die and leave my money to someone young and healthy who can enjoy it.