211–220 of 269 posts
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Why can't Chloroquine ? Maybe there's not as much money in it, unless it requires special permissions. Does anyone know if there's a lot of supply in hand and if it can be made in large quantities fast?
The price reflects opportunity cost, there is low demand for Malaria treatment in the US. Ibuprofin is a staple drug.
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Not uniquely. USA is famous for very high prices of essential medicines, and being an expensive country in general.
This was already implied in the question. They're asking why something like ibuprofen is different.
FDA rules make it expensive to start new production or enter from abroad, so a new manufacturer is in for as price war they will probably lose.
There are lots of super cheap prescription meds. Many for a penny a dose wholesale. They have robust competition but still make money at that price point, although some makers may be selling fraudulent drugs.
In theory, when the patent on a popular medication is over, new players should pull the price down to marginal cost. These days that is not happening for many products and I’d like to know why. Any economists know?
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I have in-laws in Nigeria. We just tipped them off a couple of days ago that now might be a good time to buy some Chloroquine and keep at the house, in case the situation gets worse. This is a commonly known medicine down there, that you can get from pharmacies without prescription. But based on what we're seeing so far, it seems plausible that this virus prefers cooler northern climates. So hopefully it will turn ou…
In the east coast of Spain we have had great weathee (25+ degrees celsius) and it didn't seem to greatly influence transmission speed :(
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The price reflects opportunity cost, there is low demand for Malaria treatment in the US. Ibuprofin is a staple drug.
Except drugs can be shipped around the world very cheaply, even in small doses, so demand alone can't explain price difference.
> It is on the World Health Organization's List of Essential Medicines, the safest and most effective medicines needed in a health system ... The wholesale cost in the developing world is about US$0.04. In the United States, it costs about US$5.30 per dose. [1] That's a little over 132x more expensive. Compared to other common medicines like ibuprofen ($0.04 in the developing world, $0.05 in the USA [2]), what makes…
The Lancet has published a study this week that anti-inflamatory drugs may help Ncovid penetrate cell walls and actually speed up the process. France has stopped over-the-counter sales of Ibuprofen as of mid January. https://www.afrinik.com/anti-inflammatory-drugs-can-make-cor...
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanres/article/PIIS2213-2...
400M+ people have G6PD deficiency which is a condition that has severely adverse reactions to chloroquine
So I’m not seeing mention of this anywhere else chloroquine is being talked about. Chloroquine used to be taken daily in many of the tropical Britain colonies suffering from malaria. chloroquine in the form of quinine is where the gin and tonic drink came from. Quinine mixed with carbonated water was drunk as a prophylactic. The quinine tasted so terrible it had to be cut with something to make it tolerable - gin! Th…
From wikipedia > In the United States, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) limits the quinine content in tonic water to 83 ppm[3] (83 mg per liter if calculated by mass), while the daily therapeutic dose of quinine is in the range of 500–1000 mg,[4] and 10 mg/kg every eight hours for effective malaria prevention (2100 mg daily for a 70 kg adult).[5] It is often recommended as a relief for leg cramps, but medica…
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> As a cheap, safe bet it’s not unreasonable to start having a g&t each day along with a zinc pill. Make that a zinc lozenge , though. Zinc works by coating the esophagus, and killing the virus on contact there. Zinc pills that you simply swallow don't work at all.
Not true. Zinc has a proliferation effect on lymphocytes and monocytes that leads to positive outcomes in immune function. There have been a number of clinical studies on the topic. Here is one: https://academic.oup.com/ajcn/article/79/3/444/4690140