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Treat Medicines Like Netflix Treats Shows

nytimes.com

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Re: Treat Medicines Like Netflix Treats Shows

#11

Post by bastawhiz »

keiferski wrote: post #4

Maybe I’m missing something, but discussions on the cost of medicine never seem to question whether using prescription drugs is the right choice to begin with. IMO, it would be far preferable to treat pharmaceuticals as a last resort, focusing instead on preventative medicine and addressing the underlying social issues that cause the medicine to be prescribed in the first place. From the article: Hep C kills more peo…

If you treat the drug problem without addressing the cost of the treatment, you may end up doing too good a job. The Hep C treatment could become less profitable for drug companies, driving prices up for the (smaller number of) people who still get Hep C.

You need to address both issues. By your own admission, "Hep C kills more people in the United States than all other infectious diseases combined." It would be outright unethical to do nothing to address treatment for people who already have the disease. And besides, sharing needles doesn't cause Hep C infections: sharing needles with someone with Hep C does.

Re: Treat Medicines Like Netflix Treats Shows

#12

Post by ddorian43 »

keiferski wrote: post #4

Maybe I’m missing something, but discussions on the cost of medicine never seem to question whether using prescription drugs is the right choice to begin with. IMO, it would be far preferable to treat pharmaceuticals as a last resort, focusing instead on preventative medicine and addressing the underlying social issues that cause the medicine to be prescribed in the first place. From the article: Hep C kills more peo…

You overestimate the willingness of people to save their own life by not smoking, eating healthy, exercising etc.

Re: Treat Medicines Like Netflix Treats Shows

#13

Post by tomt2323 »

keiferski wrote: post #4

Maybe I’m missing something, but discussions on the cost of medicine never seem to question whether using prescription drugs is the right choice to begin with. IMO, it would be far preferable to treat pharmaceuticals as a last resort, focusing instead on preventative medicine and addressing the underlying social issues that cause the medicine to be prescribed in the first place. From the article: Hep C kills more peo…

Yes, but to address rampant drug abuse- especially the kind where users are sharing needles-, you'd have to address a host of systemic social problems, poverty foremost amongst them. I agree that's a great idea, but also one that's not in the interests of the pressure groups keeping pharmaceuticals expensive either.

Just in case anyone still needs a source for this kind of thing, here's an example: https://www.webmd.com/mental-health/addiction/news/20180326/...

Re: Treat Medicines Like Netflix Treats Shows

#14

Post by sandworm101 »

keiferski wrote: post #4

Maybe I’m missing something, but discussions on the cost of medicine never seem to question whether using prescription drugs is the right choice to begin with. IMO, it would be far preferable to treat pharmaceuticals as a last resort, focusing instead on preventative medicine and addressing the underlying social issues that cause the medicine to be prescribed in the first place. From the article: Hep C kills more peo…

Drugs are not the last resort. Amputation of infected limbs was once a common treatment for infection. So too blood transfusions. Drugs are now used instead. That is a good thing.

Re: Treat Medicines Like Netflix Treats Shows

#15

Post by ZeroFries »

keiferski wrote: post #4

Maybe I’m missing something, but discussions on the cost of medicine never seem to question whether using prescription drugs is the right choice to begin with. IMO, it would be far preferable to treat pharmaceuticals as a last resort, focusing instead on preventative medicine and addressing the underlying social issues that cause the medicine to be prescribed in the first place. From the article: Hep C kills more peo…

Actually an easier solution is providing free needles. No massive society has ever been drug-free AFAIK.

Re: Treat Medicines Like Netflix Treats Shows

#16

Post by blueline »

ddorian43 wrote: post #12
keiferski wrote: post #4

Maybe I’m missing something, but discussions on the cost of medicine never seem to question whether using prescription drugs is the right choice to begin with. IMO, it would be far preferable to treat pharmaceuticals as a last resort, focusing instead on preventative medicine and addressing the underlying social issues that cause the medicine to be prescribed in the first place. From the article: Hep C kills more peo…

You overestimate the willingness of people to save their own life by not smoking, eating healthy, exercising etc.

i dont think that eating too many cheeseburgers is very similar to being a user of insanely addictive intravenous drugs...

do you think that "just stop injecting heroin" is actually all it takes?

Re: Treat Medicines Like Netflix Treats Shows

#20

Post by IMTDb »

> For 1 billion Australian dollars — $766 million U.S. — Australia gets, for five years, all the hep C medicine it can use.

What will happen in five years ? If we follow the Netflix model, a lot of what used to be available will simply stop being there because the producer will markup the price significantly. In Netflix case, I don't really care since I can download the movies from other sources anyway, but for drugs ? No thanks. The consequence of getting a fake product from the black market are orders of magnitude worse than downloading some porn.

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