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Unless you have your head in the dirt, you probably know by now that pharmaceutical companies have been getting away with price gouging consumers for life saving drugs. An example of this is when the price of epipens went up from $100 in 2007 to $608 in 2016. They are able to get away with this because they have patents which prohibit competitors.
My proposed solution would be to set a price ceiling for prescription drugs in return for getting a patent. Companies found charging too much will not be fined but rather lose their patent (any competitor may swoop in and sell it for a lower price).
Unless you have your head in the dirt, you probably know by now that pharmaceutical companies have been getting away with price gouging consumers for life saving drugs. An example of this is when the price of epipens went up from $100 in 2007 to $608 in 2016. They are able to get away with this because they have patents which prohibit competitors.
My proposed solution would be to set a price ceiling for prescription drugs in return for getting a patent. Companies found charging too much will not be fined but rather lose their patent (any competitor may swoop in and sell it for a lower price).
I have a better solution: Let the laws of supply and demand deal with it.
Take that EpiPen as an example. Here is what happened when Mylan Pharmaceuticals raised their prices: https://www.consumerreports.org/drug-prices/epipen-alternative-that-costs-just-10-dollars/
The active ingredient...epinephrine...isn't under any patent. Mylan has a patent on the delivery mechanism. There are now at least two devices with a different mechanism, but the same active ingredient, that are sold for less...and are offered with substantial discounts.
That's the free market at work. We don't need more federal laws or FDA regulations.
And what happen to the people who needed it in the meantime, while other companies were making their knockoffs?
And what happen to the people who needed it in the meantime, while other companies were making their knockoffs?
Unless you have your head in the dirt, you probably know by now that pharmaceutical companies have been getting away with price gouging consumers for life saving drugs. An example of this is when the price of epipens went up from $100 in 2007 to $608 in 2016. They are able to get away with this because they have patents which prohibit competitors.
My proposed solution would be to set a price ceiling for prescription drugs in return for getting a patent. Companies found charging too much will not be fined but rather lose their patent (any competitor may swoop in and sell it for a lower price).
single payer is the best answer, as it would have the ability to negotiate prices down. there is also the option of public sector drug development. it's my opinion that we should be doing that right now for antibiotic discovery. though pharmaceutical development is anything if not profitable, we'll probably have to address the cost side of the equation, too. it generally costs something north of a billion dollars to get the average drug to market, and not every drug makes the cut.
We don't need single payer to "negotiate prices down". The free market already does that.
Single payer does nothing except use the power of the government to reduce choices.
The chances that we are going to do anything about this swindle that Big Pharma is pulling in the foreseeable future are approximately zero.
Unless you have your head in the dirt, you probably know by now that pharmaceutical companies have been getting away with price gouging consumers for life saving drugs. An example of this is when the price of epipens went up from $100 in 2007 to $608 in 2016. They are able to get away with this because they have patents which prohibit competitors.
My proposed solution would be to set a price ceiling for prescription drugs in return for getting a patent. Companies found charging too much will not be fined but rather lose their patent (any competitor may swoop in and sell it for a lower price).
Since it's actually happening it's better than the nothing, and a solution instead of no action, which is where we are currently at.
And when something similar happens again?
Unless you have your head in the dirt, you probably know by now that pharmaceutical companies have been getting away with price gouging consumers for life saving drugs. An example of this is when the price of epipens went up from $100 in 2007 to $608 in 2016. They are able to get away with this because they have patents which prohibit competitors.
My proposed solution would be to set a price ceiling for prescription drugs in return for getting a patent. Companies found charging too much will not be fined but rather lose their patent (any competitor may swoop in and sell it for a lower price).
I agree. Until they end the huge influence of Big Pharma through lobbying, nothing will change. The rules are written by those being regulated, a form of fascism.
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