Drug Company Pricing Shenanigans
I would like to put a finer point on the deceptions of the pharmaceutical industry to give you even more ammunition in your quest for better health.
You will find two important links at the bottom of this article that will help you research this further if you desire. one article is a summary of drug company lies about their research costs, and the other is a brilliant essay by Maria Angell, former editor of the New England Journal of Medicine.
So why do drugs in the U.S. cost so much? If you believe the pharmaceutical industry, it is because of their selfless commitment to research.
Research and development (R&D) is a small part of a large company's budget. Even then, we, the people, the taxpayers pay about half the research costs by means of tax credits and deductions.
The drug company estimates of development and approval costs are based on the worst case scenarios, not the true average.
For some classes of drugs, like cancer drugs, foundations and government research agencies subsidize research costs. That amount varies from drug to drug, but it further reduces real drug company costs.
Most ""new"" drugs are really variations of drugs already on the market. These are referred to as me-too drugs.
Most drug companies are international conglomerates and prices are higher for the US market than for Europe, Asia etc. Drug companies like to foster the illusion that you are buying from an American business.
Checks and balances in the marketplace are mostly absent as they effectively use their wealth and power to manipulate Congress, the FDA, academic medical centers and the medical profession itself.
Drug companies practice something called ""market spiral pricing."" This means continuously raising prices across the board, regardless of value or costs. The U.S. is the only first-world country that allows drug companies to raise prices on older drugs. I watched my mother's diabetes medication increase from about $100 a month to about $800 a month over about 15 years. It wasn't because of new and better drugs, necessarily, but market spiral pricing.
To put this in context, imagine paying more each year for your cell phone. Even if you decided to buy last year's model, you would find the price had gone up 15% even though the manufacturing and distribution costs had decreased. Pretty sweet deal for this protected industry, wouldn't you say?
What can you do? Step one is to stay as healthy as you can to decrease your dependence on pharmaceuticals. Learning to give your body what it wants and to stop giving it what it doesn't want is the concept. I have dedicated these pages to provide information that will help point you in the right direction.
The next step is to be aware of the unethical game that is being played. You read this article, so now you have better information about that.
Drop your congressperson a letter or two every year telling him or her that you don't appreciate having these people eat your lunch. Encourage your family and friends to do the same. One person will not be able to stop this price gouging at your expense, but together we have a fighting chance.
http://www.wanttoknow.info/truthaboutdrugcompanies
https://www.aarp.org/health/drugs-supplements/info-2017/rx-prescription-drug-pricing.html