Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Why drug prices in America are so high (2016)

economist.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

121–130 of 204 posts

Re: Why drug prices in America are so high (2016)

#121

Post by bermanoid »

ferentchak wrote: post #32
doktrin wrote: post #20

> These high prices support innovation, they argue—not just for America, but for the world. I suspect this is in fact somewhat true, but how is it a coherent argument in favor of higher prices? The American people / American elderly (obviously) don't have some unspoken moral obligation to subsidize pharmaceutical R&D for the whole world. Governments around the world are able to negotiate affordable rates for their ci…

This. Do we need to subsidize Sweden and Germany? I have wondered for a while why we don't make a law saying the highest price you can sell a drug for in the US is no higher than the lowest negotiated price that drug is sold to in other rich countries. So if Canada negotiates a drug for $10 then that is the highest price you can sell it for here etc. That way they can set the prices however they want but collective b…

This really doesn't need to be that complicated. The US could quite easily negotiate lower drug prices with drug companies, without setting up a convoluted scheme that references other countries, by simply doing so.

There's just no political will, because strong negotiation would hurt drug companies in the US. And unless that political will somehow materializes, the situation won't change.

Re: Why drug prices in America are so high (2016)

#122

Post by dv_dt »

refurb wrote: post #111
dv_dt wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The R&D argument would be much stronger if pharma companies didn't spend more in marketing than R&D in the US.

Marketing budgets pay for themselves. Why else would you market something?

Customers pay for marketing budgets in the end - that by itself is a big contributor to higher US drug costs.

Re: Why drug prices in America are so high (2016)

#124

Post by AngeloAnolin »

Answered practically in the first two paragraph of the article:

Despite the furor, drug companies continue to charge exorbitant prices in America. Why?

THE SIMPLE ANSWER IS BECAUSE THEY CAN

There's no quick fix to the insatiable greed on all the parties involved. Profit over people's well-being.

Re: Why drug prices in America are so high (2016)

#125

Post by voxic11 »

RcouF1uZ4gsC wrote: post #107
jstelly wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I like this idea but it is probably difficult to implement. Can't drug companies make slightly different versions of drugs and work around this kind of arrangement? In that case the US would get the "best" version of the drug since it's paying the most, but that's not the solution you want (e.g. lower prices) because it's fighting the fundamental fact that the US will pay more for the same drug. I'm not a drug expert…

I don't think they can get around it that easily because both the patent protections and the FDA approval are based on the "active ingredient" and delivery method and thus they cannot easily introduce a new variant without going to a lot of expense.

But they already have to get their drugs certified independently in other countries so yes it costs more to introduce multiple varients to the US market but it does not cost much more to introduce different varients to multiple countries that require independent verification of the drugs anyways.

Re: Why drug prices in America are so high (2016)

#126

Post by maxerickson »

rayiner wrote: post #108

The idea that you can point to even one or two "whys" is patently ridiculous. The goal is easy to state: how do you set drug prices at the level that optimally balances consumer welfare (benefit realized minus money spent)? Simply setting prices as low as possible is of course not the answer--a big part of maximizing the benefit realized involves creating adequate incentives for drug companies to create new medicines…

The US seems to need better regulation. How did it take so long for esomeprazole to be revealed as a marketing sham?

https://www.quora.com/Is-there-a-significant-difference-in-e...

Not necessarily more regulation or less regulation, but better. I guess that falls into easy to say hard to do.

I also wonder about things like the significance of the improvements made to the Epipen (the related patents allowed Milan to push generics off the market).

Re: Why drug prices in America are so high (2016)

#127

Post by ThomPete »

rayiner wrote: post #115
white-flame wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not a free market if you're not allowed to import from cheaper suppliers elsewhere, so that's already broken.

Permitting imports also undermines the market if it extends the scope of the market to include areas where government intervention ( e.g. aggressive negotiation by national health systems) drives prices below efficient levels.

But then at least as a company you know that.

Re: Why drug prices in America are so high (2016)

#128

Post by doktrin »

harryh wrote: post #65
RcouF1uZ4gsC wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The US is richer and should be paying more than say Kenya. However, you would be hard-pressed to explain why the US should be paying more than say Denmark or Sweden or Germany?

The US is 8% richer than Denmark, 12% richer than Sweden and 40% richer than Germany on a per capita basis. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_(nomi... If you had said Luxembourg, Switzerland & Norway I would have agreed with you. That's only about 14 million people though.

> The US is 8% richer than Denmark, 12% richer than Sweden and 40% richer than Germany on a per capita basis.

This seems to ignore the obvious discrepancies between income inequality in the US vs. Sweden & Germany. Our Gini coefficient is higher than both, as is our poverty rate.

Our high GDP masks the fact that our world's-highest drug prices have a disproportionately negative effect on our poorest citizens.

Re: Why drug prices in America are so high (2016)

#129

Post by mgrennan »

AngeloAnolin wrote: post #124

Answered practically in the first two paragraph of the article: Despite the furor, drug companies continue to charge exorbitant prices in America. Why? THE SIMPLE ANSWER IS BECAUSE THEY CAN There's no quick fix to the insatiable greed on all the parties involved. Profit over people's well-being.

I have never understood for profit medicine. There is a very fine moral line between, selling a blue pill that gives someone a "fun time" and selling cocaine for the same resin? Drug companies are making dugs and machines to "extend life" to drain the saving of the elderly. I've seen who could not pay for a "live saving" drug, give away everything they own so they can go on medicaid to be "saved".

Re: Why drug prices in America are so high (2016)

#130

Post by harryh »

doktrin wrote: post #128
harryh wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The US is 8% richer than Denmark, 12% richer than Sweden and 40% richer than Germany on a per capita basis. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_(nomi... If you had said Luxembourg, Switzerland & Norway I would have agreed with you. That's only about 14 million people though.

> The US is 8% richer than Denmark, 12% richer than Sweden and 40% richer than Germany on a per capita basis. This seems to ignore the obvious discrepancies between income inequality in the US vs. Sweden & Germany. Our Gini coefficient is higher than both, as is our poverty rate. Our high GDP masks the fact that our world's-highest drug prices have a disproportionately negative effect on our poorest citizens.

That is true but it's mostly an argument for higher taxes are more subsidized medical care (including drug purchases) not an argument that the US should pay less overall for drugs than poorer countries.
Post reply on HN