There are many, many factors that contribute to high drug prices. Regulating them is complicated. It turns out, expensive drugs are often expensive because …
I think that if a drug company sets an abusive price they should have their patent and marketing rights seized for the public good and auctioned off to any other capable company willing to produce the drug for a reasonable price.
Can you focus a bit more of your content on policy solutions or the ecosystem those policies inhabit, like in this video. Right now that type of content is around 15% of your overall content. This type of thing is really informative for a lay person. It is a good middle ground between a lot of what you find in the news and the stuff you find in a Kaiser policy analysis article which makes it perfect for those of us interested in the topic but not experts or employed in the industry. Thx doc good episode. I love this kind of stuff.
People are stupid, PRICE CONTROLS DONT WORK! Venezuela is a perfect example of that, they have a price control on gasoline and because of that they have a gas shortage despite sitting on the worlds largest reserves of oil! Drugs are expensive because insurance pays for them, get insurance out of the drug market and companies are going to have to start being transparent with their pricing which will eventually lower the cost. Also loosening up the ridiculous FDA testing will also help lower drug prices.
How does charging user fees speed up approvals? Please explain.
Capitalism shouldn’t be allowed to mess with people’s health
Thanks for explaining this issue in a level-headed, fact-based way. Learned a lot!
Would a video on price caps and/or direct to consumer prescription drug ads be in the future?
Why is healthcare a business in the first place?
There comes a time, as societies advance in our modern age, when you have to question the level of capitalism permitted and how it is used. For example, I'm not against medical companies running things as they like, but, rather than selling the drugs to the people, I think they should be selling them to governments (including the US government), who negotiates on behalf of the citizens who will need and receive the drugs. In essence, I think we should take a page from other single-payer systems, and make the drug companies (worldwide) compete to supply the drugs Americans need at the best prices. I guarantee you that, if the costs of drug prices, came out of the budget politicians use to reward their bribes (i.e. campaign donations), they'd put a curb on the price hikes. That said, this is only a bandaid on the real problem. As society grows increasingly complex, I find myself wondering if capitalism as we know it can survive. There's only so far you can push the predatory tendencies of capitalism to exploit the people before it starts consuming itself and producing ever diminishing returns. (Sure, companies are making record-breaking profits, but the economy the very money they've made relies on is starting to collapse in response, which could wipe out the worth of that money in the end.) I wonder if the real solution is that governments have to run by the actual voice of the people they govern and will have to do more to protect the basic rights (life, including medical coverage, liberty, including basic rights, and the pursuit of happiness, including freedom from wage-slavery-level exploitation). Without changes to the very nature of society, I suspect any changes will be a case of 'too little too late'.
Here's a somewhat counter-intuitive option: Instead of preventing them from raising prices, prevent them from lowering it more than a small % each year.
The way these monopolies screw over people is by first raising the price. Then when a competitor tries to enter the market, they drop it to such a low price that the competitor can't make back their investment and goes bankrupt. Then they raise the price again.
In order to do that, they need the ability to both raise and lower prices at any time. Preventing them from raising the price can lead to shortages when their costs starts going up, but preventing them from lowering the price has no such problems. A competitor can safely enter the market, knowing the monopoly cannot suddenly try to undercut them. This leads to more competition and lower prices overall.
In fact, the monopolies aren't stupid and they can foresee these competitors coming in, so they wouldn't raise their price in the first place. Better take a small cut in the profit than to allow someone to steal the market.
I got an idea. A government corporation whose sole purpose is the mass manufacturing of generic drugs en masse and sells those drugs worldwide AT COST. Absolutely no extensions to exclusivity windows. As the window nears opening, the Federal Medical Manufacturing Corp subpoenas all required documents and reports necessary to replicate entire industrial manufacturing methods and manufacturing systems and they get to work with the goal of manufacturing enough of a drug for the medical needs of the entire planet on day 1. The day the exclusivity window ends is the day the manufacturing lines start operating and distributing. The Original manufacturer can either lower their price to cost or leave the market, its their choice and they are free to do as they wish. Meanwhile, enough of drugs continued to be manufactured and distributed at cost to any hospital or pharmacy that wish to purchase them. No shortages, no market shenanigans, no quotas. The Corp simply maintains constant production of all drugs based on statistical requirements of the planetary population.
In the cases of obvious price gouging, individuals should have the ability to sue a pharma company and seek the automatic removal of exclusivity as a standard punishment for gouging the public. Determination of gouging would be accomplished by a civil jury and in a public courtroom where the pharma company lawyers would have to explain to a jury why the little $1.50 pill costs $7800 a dose… in front of a live camera. Further, in the event that the pharma settles the lawsuit, it has to be public, and any agreement on the price of a drug applies to ALL patients needing that drugs. i.e. if you sue a pharma company and they panic and agree to sell you their life-saving thing for cheap, that cheap price is now the price they have to offer to ALL buyers.
If no one enters the market after exclusivity time has passed, this should be considered a monopoly and government price-controlled like other monopolies such as utilities.
None of this drivel explains why insulin is 10x more expensive in the US than in Canada.
Why is it so hard to lower prices? Government. Government grants drug monopolies. Government sets competitive barriers, national and international. Government restricts barriers to entry into the market. Government works for the interests of large established pharma companies and against the interests of the people.
I don't agree that more regulation is needed. You guys should actually talk to some smart free market folks.
Those weird videos that America cannot do what other countries can. The shining city on a hill.
There is one simple solution to pricing. People could stop being greedy bastards. Simple, but not likely or actionable.
Drugs are expensive for 2 reasons- government is already involved and the 3rd party payment system. When the ACA went into effect drug prices skyrocketed… just the opposite of what an "affordable care act" was meant for.
capitalism
there i saved you 7 minutes
Because we are being preyed upon by greedy asswipes who prefer fuller pockets over healthier nation. BY SCUM!
Why is it so hard to lower drug prices in the USA?
= because Americans don't pay taxes to help their fellow human beings, if you're sick that's your problem. welcome to capitalism everyone.
No but for real if you wanna solve this problem you need to set up the USA government as the primary competitor to drug companies, and it's investors would be the american people themselves. that level of competition is going to bring prices WAAAAAAAAAAY THE FUCK DOWN. Sincerely, UK, Canada, AUS.
Drug research directly funded by taxpayers is my vote.
Basically create a government agency which does research on new drugs and studies on their uses directly fund that agency by taxpayers and then let any formulas or whatever be shared among any drug company who wants to make it for anything discovered that way. It would be a high budget item so likely increase taxes but I think it's by far the simplest and most effective solution I've thought about.
This is what happens when you let the free market have control over something where real competition is sometimes impossible. Capitalism should be a tool not an end in itself. When the tool your using doesn't do the job well and keeps cutting you maybe think of using a different tool?
Jesus. Americans. Get universal healthcare.
so youre saying….the problem…..is capitalism
Maybe for biologics we could add something to say the NIH, where they develop, produce and sell their own versions, but being a part of the government, it would be much easier to limit the price of these drugs to something that actually is only intended to recoup development costs.
I think that if a drug company sets an abusive price they should have their patent and marketing rights seized for the public good and auctioned off to any other capable company willing to produce the drug for a reasonable price.
Can you focus a bit more of your content on policy solutions or the ecosystem those policies inhabit, like in this video. Right now that type of content is around 15% of your overall content. This type of thing is really informative for a lay person. It is a good middle ground between a lot of what you find in the news and the stuff you find in a Kaiser policy analysis article which makes it perfect for those of us interested in the topic but not experts or employed in the industry. Thx doc good episode. I love this kind of stuff.
People are stupid, PRICE CONTROLS DONT WORK! Venezuela is a perfect example of that, they have a price control on gasoline and because of that they have a gas shortage despite sitting on the worlds largest reserves of oil! Drugs are expensive because insurance pays for them, get insurance out of the drug market and companies are going to have to start being transparent with their pricing which will eventually lower the cost. Also loosening up the ridiculous FDA testing will also help lower drug prices.
How does charging user fees speed up approvals? Please explain.
Capitalism shouldn’t be allowed to mess with people’s health
Thanks for explaining this issue in a level-headed, fact-based way. Learned a lot!
Would a video on price caps and/or direct to consumer prescription drug ads be in the future?
Why is healthcare a business in the first place?
There comes a time, as societies advance in our modern age, when you have to question the level of capitalism permitted and how it is used. For example, I'm not against medical companies running things as they like, but, rather than selling the drugs to the people, I think they should be selling them to governments (including the US government), who negotiates on behalf of the citizens who will need and receive the drugs. In essence, I think we should take a page from other single-payer systems, and make the drug companies (worldwide) compete to supply the drugs Americans need at the best prices. I guarantee you that, if the costs of drug prices, came out of the budget politicians use to reward their bribes (i.e. campaign donations), they'd put a curb on the price hikes. That said, this is only a bandaid on the real problem. As society grows increasingly complex, I find myself wondering if capitalism as we know it can survive. There's only so far you can push the predatory tendencies of capitalism to exploit the people before it starts consuming itself and producing ever diminishing returns. (Sure, companies are making record-breaking profits, but the economy the very money they've made relies on is starting to collapse in response, which could wipe out the worth of that money in the end.) I wonder if the real solution is that governments have to run by the actual voice of the people they govern and will have to do more to protect the basic rights (life, including medical coverage, liberty, including basic rights, and the pursuit of happiness, including freedom from wage-slavery-level exploitation). Without changes to the very nature of society, I suspect any changes will be a case of 'too little too late'.
Here's a somewhat counter-intuitive option: Instead of preventing them from raising prices, prevent them from lowering it more than a small % each year.
The way these monopolies screw over people is by first raising the price. Then when a competitor tries to enter the market, they drop it to such a low price that the competitor can't make back their investment and goes bankrupt. Then they raise the price again.
In order to do that, they need the ability to both raise and lower prices at any time. Preventing them from raising the price can lead to shortages when their costs starts going up, but preventing them from lowering the price has no such problems. A competitor can safely enter the market, knowing the monopoly cannot suddenly try to undercut them. This leads to more competition and lower prices overall.
In fact, the monopolies aren't stupid and they can foresee these competitors coming in, so they wouldn't raise their price in the first place. Better take a small cut in the profit than to allow someone to steal the market.
I got an idea. A government corporation whose sole purpose is the mass manufacturing of generic drugs en masse and sells those drugs worldwide AT COST. Absolutely no extensions to exclusivity windows. As the window nears opening, the Federal Medical Manufacturing Corp subpoenas all required documents and reports necessary to replicate entire industrial manufacturing methods and manufacturing systems and they get to work with the goal of manufacturing enough of a drug for the medical needs of the entire planet on day 1. The day the exclusivity window ends is the day the manufacturing lines start operating and distributing. The Original manufacturer can either lower their price to cost or leave the market, its their choice and they are free to do as they wish. Meanwhile, enough of drugs continued to be manufactured and distributed at cost to any hospital or pharmacy that wish to purchase them. No shortages, no market shenanigans, no quotas. The Corp simply maintains constant production of all drugs based on statistical requirements of the planetary population.
In the cases of obvious price gouging, individuals should have the ability to sue a pharma company and seek the automatic removal of exclusivity as a standard punishment for gouging the public. Determination of gouging would be accomplished by a civil jury and in a public courtroom where the pharma company lawyers would have to explain to a jury why the little $1.50 pill costs $7800 a dose… in front of a live camera. Further, in the event that the pharma settles the lawsuit, it has to be public, and any agreement on the price of a drug applies to ALL patients needing that drugs. i.e. if you sue a pharma company and they panic and agree to sell you their life-saving thing for cheap, that cheap price is now the price they have to offer to ALL buyers.
If no one enters the market after exclusivity time has passed, this should be considered a monopoly and government price-controlled like other monopolies such as utilities.
None of this drivel explains why insulin is 10x more expensive in the US than in Canada.
Why is it so hard to lower prices? Government. Government grants drug monopolies. Government sets competitive barriers, national and international. Government restricts barriers to entry into the market. Government works for the interests of large established pharma companies and against the interests of the people.
I don't agree that more regulation is needed. You guys should actually talk to some smart free market folks.
Those weird videos that America cannot do what other countries can. The shining city on a hill.
There is one simple solution to pricing. People could stop being greedy bastards. Simple, but not likely or actionable.
Drugs are expensive for 2 reasons- government is already involved and the 3rd party payment system. When the ACA went into effect drug prices skyrocketed… just the opposite of what an "affordable care act" was meant for.
capitalism
there i saved you 7 minutes
Because we are being preyed upon by greedy asswipes who prefer fuller pockets over healthier nation. BY SCUM!
Why is it so hard to lower drug prices in the USA?
= because Americans don't pay taxes to help their fellow human beings, if you're sick that's your problem. welcome to capitalism everyone.
No but for real if you wanna solve this problem you need to set up the USA government as the primary competitor to drug companies, and it's investors would be the american people themselves. that level of competition is going to bring prices WAAAAAAAAAAY THE FUCK DOWN. Sincerely, UK, Canada, AUS.
@𝙃𝙚𝙖𝙡𝙩𝙝𝙘𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙏𝙧𝙞𝙖𝙜𝙚 𝙞𝙣𝙛𝙤 𝙞𝙨 𝘽𝙚𝙨𝙩
𝙁𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙨 𝙞 𝙖𝙡𝙨𝙤 𝙢𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮 𝙨𝙞𝙢𝙞𝙡𝙖𝙧 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙡𝙩𝙝 𝙧𝙚𝙡𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙫𝙞𝙙𝙚𝙤 𝙥𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙚 𝙨𝙪𝙥𝙥𝙤𝙧𝙩!#𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙡𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣2𝙥𝙤𝙞𝙣𝙩00
Drug research directly funded by taxpayers is my vote.
Basically create a government agency which does research on new drugs and studies on their uses directly fund that agency by taxpayers and then let any formulas or whatever be shared among any drug company who wants to make it for anything discovered that way. It would be a high budget item so likely increase taxes but I think it's by far the simplest and most effective solution I've thought about.
This is what happens when you let the free market have control over something where real competition is sometimes impossible. Capitalism should be a tool not an end in itself. When the tool your using doesn't do the job well and keeps cutting you maybe think of using a different tool?
Jesus. Americans. Get universal healthcare.
so youre saying….the problem…..is capitalism
Maybe for biologics we could add something to say the NIH, where they develop, produce and sell their own versions, but being a part of the government, it would be much easier to limit the price of these drugs to something that actually is only intended to recoup development costs.
Have you not heard about lawsuits over companies colluding with eachother to raise prices to screw consumers? Pretty fuckin big bit to mention!
Source: https://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-generic-drug-price-fixing-lawsuit-20190624-story.html
Capitalism. That's why.
Yes drug prices in the US seem unfair; but, the problem (as you mentioned) is complicated.
Here are some other reasons it is complicated: