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Posted by: quackpot 6 months ago
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quackpot6 months ago
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You are dreaming of a free market with respect to drugs. This was tried and it failed miserably once the leading snake oil sales people were able to gain an appreciable share of the market in the 19th century.
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The trade off between unregulated snake oils salesmen and over regulation is not clear, but it should be clear that the market place is NOT free.
The government benefits the drug companies in many ways:
--issues highly profitable patents to the drug companies
--Determines which compounds can be marketed as drugs (safety and efficacy)
--Regulates the manufacture of the drugs (good manufacturing practices)
--Pays for a large portion of drug sales (Medicare part D)
Without a say in reasonable pricing policies, the scales are heavily tipped against the consumer.-
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EDWARDIII6 months ago
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Who the hell are you to say what I am dreaming of?
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Think about this though. When a doctor or lawyer or tow truck operator or cop saves you from disaster are you grateful or not? Do you not wish them all the best?
What about drug companies who invent a drug today that might save your life, albeit twenty years forward in time, or your grandchild's life fifty years from now? Wouldn't you be glad to have them prosper in the mean time?
Now suppose we have a rule that if a drug company spends billions on development only to discover a dead end, well, those are the breaks. They eat their losses. But if they discover a successful drug they must sell it at manufacturing price. Would you go into the drug business under those rules?
Suppose, on the other hand drug companies were encouraged to make as much as they could earn. 1. Rich people spending vast sums on the initial output serve as a test group for the rest of us. They suffer any unpredicted side effects. 2. The drug will become a cheap generic eventually, and available to everyone. Many drugs that are ubiquitous now started that way. 3. Successful drugs create the economic cusion necessary for companies to investigate more new drugs which might or might not become profitable.
The government owes the drug companies the service of patent protection. That's what a govenment is for. Their scattergun tangle of regulations, though, have the effect of keeping new and small-cap companies out of the market and potentially helpful drugs off the shelves. Compare a few lives lost on unusual side effects to thousands of lives lost waiting for new drugs to become available. It is a matter of balance, and just now the balance is way off.
Read Thomas Sowell-
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quackpot6 months ago
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Each of the professions that you mention has huge leverage over the consumer caught in an emergency situation and therefore unable to negotiate the best deal. In each case, the permissible and/or customary rates are largely set by society (i.e. government) so as to allow a decent profit while preventing scalping.
Reply
Doctors: prices are largely regulated by HMOs with medicare being the big determinant of a base value.
Lawyer: public defenders are available
Tow Truck: largely regulated by state laws.
Cop: Salary paid by the government
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