Drugmakers hiked prices 1k% in price-fixing scheme, states allege
1–10 of 37 posts
Re: Drugmakers hiked prices 1k% in price-fixing scheme, states allege
#2Submission statement of sorts: the NYT article for this was submitted twice in the last two days but got no attention; the pharmaceutical industry seems to be a topic of interest here (including some non-mainstream views on characters like Martin Shkreli), so I'm interested to see HN's take on this.
Re: Drugmakers hiked prices 1k% in price-fixing scheme, states allege
#3There is a serious issue with price fixing in pharma. Whether it's generics colluding, fake patent extensions, or name brand producers paying off generic; it needs to stop.
The current practice is to mark drugs up sky high and rebate the prices. Maybe someone can educate me, but it looks very similar to money laundering IMHO.
Re: Drugmakers hiked prices 1k% in price-fixing scheme, states allege
#4There is a serious issue with price fixing in pharma. Whether it's generics colluding, fake patent extensions, or name brand producers paying off generic; it needs to stop. The current practice is to mark drugs up sky high and rebate the prices. Maybe someone can educate me, but it looks very similar to money laundering IMHO.
It certainly helps that the U.S. government can't negotiate Medicare prices, too.
Re: Drugmakers hiked prices 1k% in price-fixing scheme, states allege
#5Submission statement of sorts: the NYT article for this was submitted twice in the last two days but got no attention; the pharmaceutical industry seems to be a topic of interest here (including some non-mainstream views on characters like Martin Shkreli), so I'm interested to see HN's take on this.
It’s important to note that this case is for generic drugs, not brand name drugs. The expensive drugs that make the news are generally the branded kind. Generic drugs are usually very cheap due to the level of competition.
Interestingly, the US has some of the cheapest generic drug prices in the world due to the level of competition. I had read that for some generic companies, they make almost 100% of their profit by wining patent cases. Once competition ramps up, their margin is razor thin.
So based on that, I guess it’s not that surprising companies would collide in order to improve margins.
Re: Drugmakers hiked prices 1k% in price-fixing scheme, states allege
#6> "We have hard evidence that shows the generic drug industry perpetrated a multi-billion dollar fraud on the American people,"...
So, force them to reset prices. Don't slap them on the wrists with easily paid fines. Make them reset prices.
Re: Drugmakers hiked prices 1k% in price-fixing scheme, states allege
#7> "We have hard evidence that shows the generic drug industry perpetrated a multi-billion dollar fraud on the American people,"... So, force them to reset prices. Don't slap them on the wrists with easily paid fines. Make them reset prices.
And put some people behind bars as well.
Re: Drugmakers hiked prices 1k% in price-fixing scheme, states allege
#8> "We have hard evidence that shows the generic drug industry perpetrated a multi-billion dollar fraud on the American people,"... So, force them to reset prices. Don't slap them on the wrists with easily paid fines. Make them reset prices.
And put some people behind bars as well.
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Re: Drugmakers hiked prices 1k% in price-fixing scheme, states allege
#9Submission statement of sorts: the NYT article for this was submitted twice in the last two days but got no attention; the pharmaceutical industry seems to be a topic of interest here (including some non-mainstream views on characters like Martin Shkreli), so I'm interested to see HN's take on this.
It’s important to note that this case is for generic drugs, not brand name drugs. The expensive drugs that make the news are generally the branded kind. Generic drugs are usually very cheap due to the level of competition. Interestingly, the US has some of the cheapest generic drug prices in the world due to the level of competition. I had read that for some generic companies, they make almost 100% of their profit by…
It's surprising in light of the prevailing idea that markets enforce competition towards the lowest price. This idea forms the basis of the claim that market-driven healthcare benefits consumers by lowering costs.
Re: Drugmakers hiked prices 1k% in price-fixing scheme, states allege
#10The whole industry needs to be nationalized, full stop, and the current people in charge need to all be in jail.