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And the FDA is staffed with many former Big Pharma Execs not to mention Big Pharma makes big contributions to the FDA.
There is a conflict of interest involved here
We saw the same thing with the rating agencies and the Big Banks during the 2008 crash
The FDA is Big Pharma
No doubt Pharma makes huge political contributions intended for their own benefit. But some of this I think you have backwards. Many formerly with the FDA make big hits in Pharma. I happened to have known a few.
Don't worry, the rich CEOs like Trump will change all that, right?
'From 2008 to 2015 the cost for the most commonly prescribed brand name drugs zoomed 164 percent.
Part of the problem is the obscene level of salaries the drug companies pay their top people. For example, nearly $19 million WV Sen. Manchion’s daughter, CEO of Mylan Labs, receives.
If milk, bread or computers went up in price like drugs, Americans would be outraged. They would likely adopt the mantra: “We’re mad as hell and we aren’t going to take it anymore.” But for reasons that remain mysterious to us, we accept stratospheric prices for life-saving medicines without batting an eye. Even when new cancer drugs cost $150,000 a year there are no protests.'
The TPP would provide large pharmaceutical firms with new rights and powers to increase medicine prices and limit consumers’ access to cheaper generic drugs. This would include extensions of monopoly drug patents that would allow drug companies to raise prices for more medicines and even allow monopoly rights over surgical procedures. For people in the developing countries involved in TPP, these rules could be deadly – denying consumers access to HIV-AIDS, tuberculosis and cancer drugs.
No doubt Pharma makes huge political contributions intended for their own benefit. But some of this I think you have backwards. Many formerly with the FDA make big hits in Pharma. I happened to have known a few.
I guess that makes even more sense
They make beneficial changes for Big Pharma while at the FDA and have a nice job waiting for them in Big Pharma when they are done
We see this all the time with former politicians and Industry
"What pisses me off more than anything is nobody seems to know what anything costs upfront."
So, you are pissed off at something that "SEEMS" to be but, you really don't know for sure.
Before my last to 2 operations I was given a COMPLETE estimate of what the costs would be, itemized.
My dentist gives me a complete breakdown of what any cost would be, INCLUDING what the insurance company will pay.
Bottom line. DON'T "seem" to think.
Do some checking BEFORE making a fool of yourself.
It is customary for healthcare providers to provide estimates for non- emergency surgery and major treatment. This is for their own benefit as well as the consumer.
One cannot walk in the door of a hospital/ outpatient facility and schedule surgery get an estimate for XYZ procedure. The surgeon who has evaluated the patient schedules surgery and get the estimate rolling.
Barring complications, the consumer knows upfront what it will cost and how much they are responsible for. Most procedures require the consumer to pay their portion upfront, before surgery, assuming they are insured.
Those who are uninsured may attempt to negotiate fees. They will not get the discount a PPO insurer will.
They will be expected to pay upfront or enter into a legally binding repayment plan.
Then there's those who do do not honor their commitment to a payment plan or are admitted through the ER. The very real cost of unpaid care is one of the many things that make heathcare costs higher in the US than elsewhere. It no different than how the cost of everything is inflated to cover the overhead of " shrinkage" and loss prevention.
i blame the Ins cos- phram and the NMA- Congress they all in bed together -- wheres the Zika money? they in bed now with a cigarettes hanging out their mouths figuring how to stick it to the consumer and the govt to make sure they make a PROFIT!@
Americans pay more for drugs so that other countries can pay less. Make the price of drugs the same worldwide across all currencies and see what happens.
Yup, over regulation in other countries is costing us big time. Almost seems it would make sense for the drug companies to just say, "sorry, we can't export this drug at the price point you want". Not really fair that we US consumers subsidize foreigners meds.
Not really sure how much, but I'd bet the regulatory issues of bringing a new drug to market is also no small expense for US drug companies, too.
DO you expect congress to change it? Big Pharma spends BILLIONS every year lobbying congress for special treatment. They have control over the drugs they develop for 20 years (patent protection). They have paid congress to enact laws that allow them to charge whatever they wish in this country but much less overseas. (21 U.S. Code § 384 - Importation of prescription drugs) Tell me why you can buy the same drug made by the same company in Mexico for 25% or less of what it costs in NEW Mexico?
Congress has also allowed Big Pharma to circumvent the Robinson–Patman Act of 1936 (or Anti-Price Discrimination Act, Pub. L. No. 74-692, 49 Stat. 1526 (codified at 15 U.S.C. § 13) . They are allowed to sell the same product at different prices depending on the customer.
I notice you bring up Trump in your opening argument. What does he have to do with the current state of affairs? Will he change things? Probably not. Will a politician change anything? Not if they collect money from the pharmaceutical lobbyists.
No worries. Trump promised " to replace Obamacare with something wonderful that will take care of everybody and the government will pay for it".
His written position is vague and talks about enabling healthcare insurance to be sold across state lines to create more depth and breadth in the market. Yet, there is no federal law that prohibits insurance from being sold across state lines. Hmmm.
Premiums for healthcare insurance, like all insurance, wildly varies within and across states. My state has 13 regions. No two regions pay the same premium for the same plan.
Many factors are included in the determination of premiums:
Competitiveness or lack thereof of the regional healthcare market. Hospitals and medical practices have been significantly contracting through mergers and acquisistions for 20 years with no end in sight.
Competitiveness of the state insurance market. The healthcare insurance market has been contracting through mergers and acquisistions for the past 25 years with no end in sight.
State laws for mandatory inclusions, including medications
The relative health of the regional population as determined by claims made
There are fixed costs and variable costs. Pharmacy companies face high fixed costs in order to bring a drug to market.
An example:
It costs fifty million dollars to get a drug approved but only one dollar to produce, market and deliver each pill. You need to recover the 50 million before you can start making a profit. You can eat into this 50 million by selling the drug for some price over a dollar. In order to recover this cost it is often advantageous to sell the drug for a different price in different markets, providing you can keep the markets separate. To do that you usually need government assistance.
The high costs of developing drugs could be greatly reduced by repealing Kefauver-Harris.
Pfizer manufacturers Lipitor in Ireland. They sell the same product throughout the world.
At the retail level, the US consumer pays more than consumers in the rest of the world.
The US Federal Government does not regulate wholesale and retail prices. And that's the bottom line.
6 of the 10 top biotech firms in the world are in Europe, not USA. That means that 60% of the prescription drugs Americans consume were developed by these companies and they are headquartered in countries with universal health insurance and in some cases full drug coverage.
How does that work?
Most countries with Universal Healthcare regulate wholesale and retail medication prices.
The US does not. Pharnmeciutical companies and retail pharmacies are free to charge as much as the market will bear, in the US. Prices vary retail pharmecy to retail pharmecy.
One medication may be cheaper at Walmart while another is cheaper at Walgreens or CVS.
Big box retail pharmacies have all but replaced independent pharmacies. Big box buys in bulk and the independent cannot compete.
Don't worry, the rich CEOs like Trump will change all that, right?
'From 2008 to 2015 the cost for the most commonly prescribed brand name drugs zoomed 164 percent.
Part of the problem is the obscene level of salaries the drug companies pay their top people. For example, nearly $19 million WV Sen. Manchion’s daughter, CEO of Mylan Labs, receives.
If milk, bread or computers went up in price like drugs, Americans would be outraged. They would likely adopt the mantra: “We’re mad as hell and we aren’t going to take it anymore.” But for reasons that remain mysterious to us, we accept stratospheric prices for life-saving medicines without batting an eye. Even when new cancer drugs cost $150,000 a year there are no protests.'
Google is your friend - Obama worked a backroom Secret deal (in the White House as NYT reported) with Big Pharma CEO's & their Lobby's to protect Drug prices, forbid shipments from Canada & not allow group pricing of drugs. The FDA protects these large companies - in return, they endorsed ObamaCare.
It's not that nobody is complaining - it's that Democrats & TeamObama won't allow ANY changes to ObamCare & Republicans can't do anything about it. Change any part and it all caves in faster than its imploding now.
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