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Sunday, September 27th, 2015

Astounding Drug Prices Show How U.S. Government is in Cahoots with Big Pharma

Author:     Jay Syrmopoulos
Source:     Alternet (U.S.)
Publication Date:     September 24, 2015
 Link: Astounding Drug Prices Show How U.S. Government is in Cahoots with Big Pharma
Stephan:   The prices paid by Americans for their prescription medications are, as the chart below shows, grotesquely out of line with those charged in the rest of the world. Why is this happening? Because the lobbying power of Big Pharma is much more a priority than the wellbeing and interests of individuals. The result is a manifestation of what can be achieved by buying Presidents, Representatives, and Senators. You are being routinely ripped off because there are no limits to the infusion of money by special interests into our political system.

After Martin Shkreli raised the price of Daraprim, which costs one dollar to produce, from $13.50 per pill to $750 per pill, the public and media roundly panned the Turing Pharmaceuticals CEO for gouging patients in need of life-saving medicine.

While Shkreli’s move may have been extremely ostentatious, and drawn the public’s attention, the issue of overpriced drugs in America is one that is not confined to Shkreli and Turing Pharmaceuticals.

Drug prices in the U.S. have been skyrocketing for years. The latest data indicates that drug prices in the United States are often up to 10 times more expensive than in almost all other developed countries.

While some contend that this is a problem with the market itself, they are incorrect. It’s the government, not the market that is to blame for this situation.

Click to enlarge.

The main reason why this situation exists is because of patents and intellectual property rights, a government granted monopoly privilege that has allowed these companies to claim a monopoly over a recipe for a particular medication.

In a truly free market someone like him may be able to develop a product and gouge the price, but his competitors […]

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1 Comment

  1. Steve Hovland on Sunday, September 27, 2015 at 6:17 am

    Pharma rips us off even if their products are cheap. Their products are often only marginally effective and the side effects are sometimes more catastrophic than the problem they are treating. Statins are a good example of this.