"Outrageously" priced weight-loss drugs could bankrupt US health care

laughs in anarchist don’t threaten me with a good time!

We also need to differentiate “theft” (actually taking a tangible thing) from “ripping off” (stealing an idea and making that thing yourself).

Theft is bad (depending in who you steal from and why), ripping off is only bad if you believe current economic models/practices are good. But

I’m only talking about conceptually since this doesn’t account for the consumer’s safety. In practice one downside to unregulated markets is they get exploited by bad actors for profit by making inferior products that harm consumers, unlike regulated markets that get exploited by bad actors for profit through regulatory capture.

Exactly.

Let's take this further. Nobody should be making money off other people's suffering.

So.

Let's also zero out doctor's and nurse's salaries.

Hospital administrator's salaries.

This would also apply to all charities that try to alleviate any suffering. No administrator should make any money off other people's suffering.

The only profitable enterprise should be showing ads!

https://old.reddit.com/r/unitedkingdom/comments/1cn8dy8/what...

Look at how many times NHS is referenced and how it is viewed by those utilizing the system. In my opinion, socialized medicine tends to fail as the overall demand for healthcare will usually exceed the available supply in most societies.

I'm sure there are counterexamples to be provided; however, I think the benefits of a capitalist healthcare system are underappreciated.

The reason compounding pharmacies are very useful in the US is not because the process of compounding is useful; it's that they have carveouts in regulations that make it hard for the FDA to control them. When there is a drug that is useful and safe, but not approved by the FDA for the purpose you want to use it, you can often get it from a compounding pharmacy.

Semaglutide is a GLP-1 agonist. There are many other GLP-1 agonists, of varying efficacy and side effects, and many of them which a compounding pharmacy can purchase in bulk at very reasonable prices. However, only Semaglutide has been FDA approved for the indication of weight loss, and being the sole approved product means they can milk their patent-granted monopoly for a ridiculous amount of money. Simply because without FDA approval, you cannot get the other similar drugs for the purpose of weight loss. Unless you go to a compounding pharmacy, which, for dumb historical reasons, happen to have loopholes in FDA regulation, so long as they are artisanally producing compounded drugs tailored to a specific individual.

> And now for the bad news, her insurance no longer covers it.

This is one of the reasons why I think these GLP-1 drugs are going to be classified by insurance as a temporary tool to help people improve their health. Rather than a long term medical necessity like insulin.

> I think we need more time to see

I agree with this statement, we definitely need more time. We don't fully understand the long term effects of GLP-1 in large populations.

I'm in the camp of, if its possible to use GLP-1 as a ramp to building sustainable habits and then wean off the drug, then as many people as possible should be weaned off.