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How Big Pharma reaps profits while hurting everyday Americans (2019)

americanprogress.org

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Re: How Big Pharma reaps profits while hurting everyday Americans (2019)

#31

Post by WalterBright »

jmyeet wrote: post #9

The only "innovation" of capitalism is intermediation, otherwise called "rent-seeking". One of the big lies Big Pharma tells you is that R&D is expensive but the actual R&D is done primarily by government funding and research at colleges. Big Pharma spends WAAY more on marketing. The only real R&D Big Pharma does is patent extension. Patents have a life so companies will make minor changes to the molecule or the deli…

> This is capitalism working as intended: taking a captive market (eg diabetics that cannot live without insulin) and extracting wealth from them to the hands of a very few.

People can't live without food, either, but every historical attempt at government agriculture has resulted in famine. With swinish capitalists engaging in food production, we're all the fattest people in history.

As for the "very few", anyone can buy stock in Big Pharma and get their fair share of the wealth.

Re: How Big Pharma reaps profits while hurting everyday Americans (2019)

#32

Post by RandomLensman »

hash872 wrote: post #11
jmyeet wrote: post #9

The only "innovation" of capitalism is intermediation, otherwise called "rent-seeking". One of the big lies Big Pharma tells you is that R&D is expensive but the actual R&D is done primarily by government funding and research at colleges. Big Pharma spends WAAY more on marketing. The only real R&D Big Pharma does is patent extension. Patents have a life so companies will make minor changes to the molecule or the deli…

>One of the big lies Big Pharma tells you is that R&D is expensive but the actual R&D is done primarily by government funding and research at colleges Not an expert, but my understanding is that the kind of basic science R&D done by the government and academia is the simplest and easiest type of research to do by far. As it was explained to me- anyone can invent new compounds, the really really really hard low-percen…

Don't know about the US, but in other countries a phase 1 trial might very well get done by academia, sometimes even phase 2.

Re: How Big Pharma reaps profits while hurting everyday Americans (2019)

#33

Post by google234123 »

Obscurity4340 wrote: post #29

Its kind of amazing how a basic medication like Wellbutrin XL is like $1.18/dose while in the US, you're looking at $83/dose ($2483/30 at Walgreens). Same damn pill, free market capitalism my ass.

I pay like 15$ for 30 - I don’t know what you are talking about

Re: How Big Pharma reaps profits while hurting everyday Americans (2019)

#34

Post by mullen »

99_00 wrote: post #23

It was amazing to see skepticism and criticism of big pharma become forbid during COVID with many citizens happily shaming, ostracizing, and censoring others. And then to see it suddenly be allowed again. Extremely fascinating.

This article is from 2019 and second, I don't think anyone questions the validity of the results of Big Pharma, just the price, transparency and lack of willingness to allow the US Federal government to collectively price bargain.

Re: How Big Pharma reaps profits while hurting everyday Americans (2019)

#35

Post by akira2501 »

eganist wrote: post #2

Pharma strikes me as one of the industries that would benefit heavily from a few congressionally chartered nonprofits being booted up. Same employee comp (with cash substitutes for stock), same general structure, same incentives, but with a mandate to recycle profits back into new drug development rather than paying out to shareholders through buybacks, dividends, etc, all audited by a dedicated regulatory body to en…

For a market that's so large, there are very few players involved. More than likely several illegal monopolies have formed. We already have laws that are meant to address this issue. We should probably just enforce those.

Re: How Big Pharma reaps profits while hurting everyday Americans (2019)

#36

Post by Obscurity4340 »

google234123 wrote: post #33
Obscurity4340 wrote: post #29

Its kind of amazing how a basic medication like Wellbutrin XL is like $1.18/dose while in the US, you're looking at $83/dose ($2483/30 at Walgreens). Same damn pill, free market capitalism my ass.

I pay like 15$ for 30 - I don’t know what you are talking about

1) Generic or brand (sounds like generic) 2) This is for Wellbutrin XL 300 (30 day script) 3) that's with insurance? Sounds likeyou're insured

Re: How Big Pharma reaps profits while hurting everyday Americans (2019)

#37

Post by pfisherman »

rqtwteye wrote: post #14
eganist wrote: post #2

Pharma strikes me as one of the industries that would benefit heavily from a few congressionally chartered nonprofits being booted up. Same employee comp (with cash substitutes for stock), same general structure, same incentives, but with a mandate to recycle profits back into new drug development rather than paying out to shareholders through buybacks, dividends, etc, all audited by a dedicated regulatory body to en…

A good start would be if the medical industry in the US were run like normal businesses with transparent and consistent pricing. Right now nobody can predict how much something cost because insurances, hospitals, drug companies and a lot of middlemen play all kinds of games. I think we should mandate that all prices are open so people know what's actually going on. Hospitals should also charge the same price for the…

Absolutely! The truth is that nobody really knows what medications actually cost. They are often sold in bundles similar to cable tv channels.

For those who are running into coverage / affordability problems for drugs in the US… contact the manufacturer. They often have payment assistance programs or discounts to reduce out of pocket costs. They may be able to help you get costs covered by your insurer.

You should not ever be paying the full “list price” out of pocket. Pharma companies want market share and they would rather sell to you at a discount than lose you as a customer.

Re: How Big Pharma reaps profits while hurting everyday Americans (2019)

#39

Post by gustavus »

johnorourke wrote: post #5
eganist wrote: post #2

Pharma strikes me as one of the industries that would benefit heavily from a few congressionally chartered nonprofits being booted up. Same employee comp (with cash substitutes for stock), same general structure, same incentives, but with a mandate to recycle profits back into new drug development rather than paying out to shareholders through buybacks, dividends, etc, all audited by a dedicated regulatory body to en…

Like a kind of Service, for Health, covering the whole Nation... a National Health Service, perhaps! Sorry, brit here, couldn't resist. It's really interesting seeing (in my unscientific view) America slowly realising it needs to reform profit-driven health, while England's government slowly privatises its existing "free at poinnt of use" service and makes it harder for poorer people to access good health care.

Healthcare and medication are different things and as long as we continue to conflate the 2 everyone will be talking past each other.

Re: How Big Pharma reaps profits while hurting everyday Americans (2019)

#40

Post by gambiting »

rqtwteye wrote: post #14
eganist wrote: post #2

Pharma strikes me as one of the industries that would benefit heavily from a few congressionally chartered nonprofits being booted up. Same employee comp (with cash substitutes for stock), same general structure, same incentives, but with a mandate to recycle profits back into new drug development rather than paying out to shareholders through buybacks, dividends, etc, all audited by a dedicated regulatory body to en…

A good start would be if the medical industry in the US were run like normal businesses with transparent and consistent pricing. Right now nobody can predict how much something cost because insurances, hospitals, drug companies and a lot of middlemen play all kinds of games. I think we should mandate that all prices are open so people know what's actually going on. Hospitals should also charge the same price for the…

>>A good start would be if the medical industry in the US were run like normal businesses with transparent and consistent pricing.

People keep saying this, but I don't see how that helps in the slightest if you have had an accident and need help now.

Or for non-urgent care - something is wrong, you don't know what, you go to two doctors, one recommends a set of tests for $5000, the other a different set for $10,000, how does price transparency help you here in any way shape or form?

Edit: to be clear, this isn't meant to be a comment against price transparency. My point is that I don't think that's what the issue is. When I go to an NHS doctor here in UK I have absolutely 0 idea how much any of the tests or procedures cost, and yet the system isn't putting people in poverty(it has a lot of other problems, but bankrupting people isn't one of them).

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