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This is absolutely appalling. Its an awful exploitation of the sick and vulnerable Americans by this vulture company and I hope Bernie Sanders and his team in Congress can raise more awareness about this issue. We need proper regulation of these out-of-control big Pharma companies that are allowed to monopolize markets while the government does not use its negotiation power like in every other country to keep prices down.
Here is another example of why we need Bernie Sanders to be the next President of the United States.
One of the reasons other countries are able to regulate drug prices and keep the cost down is because they don't have to pay for the R&D in most places. We pay for the develpmental cost and often get it first. Again this is not this simple as if you are able to afford to pay for the medicine you want the research to be hard and furious regardless of cost because you want the product for you and your family. People with the resources aren't necessarily motivated to curtail research so you can afford your meds. A question for everyone. In your spending priorities what is higher on your list than medical cost and the health of you and your loved ones? How many people spend more on cell phones, tablets, cable and other devices than they do on medical deductibles and which is most important to them?
But the real question remains - are we just paying for R&D plus a reasonable profit or are we paying substantially more than R&D? The current outrage over the old drug hiked up over 40 times the previous price after rights were acquired by a new vendor seems to have little to do with recouping R&D.
I suppose you can also blame those of us on Medicare who elected not to join Part D because we take no medications. Think of all the money we would be spending on those premiums for something we do not use. Lower costs for others? Very similar to the ACA pushing healthy young people to sign up for health benefits to subsidize the older, sicker population. Same with prescription drugs? Maybe?
This whole system is completely broken. There is no free market when a company exploit their market power as desperate parents try to save their children. A drug that costs 1 million each year? What was the cost to develop it?
An internal National Institute of Health document shows how crucial taxpayer-funded research is to top-selling drugs. According to the NIH, taxpayer-funded scientists conducted 55 percent of the research projects that led to the discovery and development of the top five selling drugs in 1995. These companies have no shame.
These companies are definitely ripping Americans off big-time, and it needs to stop.
This whole system is completely broken. There is no free market when a company exploit their market power as desperate parents try to save their children. A drug that costs 1 million each year? What was the cost to develop it?
I think we are talking about abuse of monopoly power when they take the monopoly they are granted and use it to make obscene profits, especially in cases where the drug became profitable years ago and they are way past recouping investment. If you don't consider preying on people who have no other choice abuse, then what do you consider abuse?
The average profit margin in the pharmaceutical industry is 14%.
Apple's is over 22%
Google's is just under 22%
Are these companies making "super-mega-obscene" profits?
Here's a novel idea: try ingesting fewer of those toxic chemicals, uh, excuse me, "medications". Because toxic chemicals are exactly what they are. We are being brainwashed into believing that we somehow can't live without them.
Unless you are ingesting some chemical that you positively can't live without, why not jettison it? Next time you visit the Medicine Man, why not ask, "what will happen if I do NOT take this chemical?". You just might find yourself saving some money, as well as preserving your health.
Think for yourself. Wake up to what they're trying to sell you, just for "profit".
I asked one doctor once what he would have prescribed to a patient with my problem (at that time) if he were prescribing 100 years ago. He smiled and said go home and fast for a few days and stay in bed. And here he was prescribing some pricey drugs for a relatively benign condition.
Next time you visit the Medicine Man, why not ask, "what will happen if I do NOT take this chemical?". You just might find yourself saving some money, as well as preserving your health.
That's exactly what I ask my doctor when he wants to write me a prescription (except I say "pill" instead of "chemical").
I began doing so after watching my grandmother and mother gradually move into prescription overload status - multiple pills multiple times a day for multiple conditions.
I resolved to never go down that path.
The average cost to develop a new drug is $2.6B
The average profit margin in the pharmaceutical industry is 14%
Apple's is over 22%
Google's is just under 22%
Are these companies making "super-mega-obscene" profits?
Yes, it's obscene, we aren't talking about making smartphones, we are talking about drugs which can in some cases save lives and by allowing this system to continue we are picking winners and losers, and the poor and middle class who can't afford these drugs are the losers. Much of the development of drugs is already paid for by taxpayers and the US is one of the only countries in the world that does not cap or control the prices that drug companies can charge:
Quote:
"the taxpayer funds 85% of the basic research, and yet at the end of the day when a drug is FDA-approved — for cancer as well as for other indications — we as Americans are paying at least twice the price as those outside the US," said Dr Kantarjian. "In the setting of most cancer drugs, you can find them at half the price in Canada. For the hepatitis C drug [sofosbuvir], in the United States we pay $80,000 to $160,000 for a 3- to 6-month course, but in Egypt and India, the drug company has an agreement to give the total course of treatment to an individual patient for $900." Even at that cut rate, they still make a large profit, he emphasized. "That's because the total cost of treatment is only $138. In the US, we are in a very awkward situation because we fund most of the research as taxpayers and we get zero in return," he explained."
What about the ex-hedge funder who bought the rights to an AIDS drug and promptly raised price overnight by 5500%, from $13.50 to $750.00 per pill. He has a box seat waiting for him in he11...
Apparently the bad publicity has brought about some results.
The CEO of a pharmaceutical company, which increased the price of a drug used for parasite infections by more than 4,000 percent, said the company would substantially lower the price.
Martin Shkreli, the CEO of Turing Pharmaceuticals, told ABC News they will lower the price days after making headlines and getting complaints from medical groups and others online.
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That's exactly what I ask my doctor when he wants to write me a prescription (except I say "pill" instead of "chemical").
