Aug 17 2016: should the Government be involved in drug pricing?
- Thread starter cafead
- Start date
Not unless you want to say goodbye to discovery. Check and see what it takes to bring a novel drug to market. If investors cant get the return they want then you want see the wonder products we have been hearing about.
Do you want to rely on the government to discover new drugs?
They're not the only ones with a price increase:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/emilywi...n-prices-400-because-they-could/#1b351950477a
http://www.forbes.com/sites/emilywi...n-prices-400-because-they-could/#1b351950477a
Congress is investigating Mylan's epipen price increase and they should. There is no way this is justified. The had already raised the price 222% between 2007 and 2014. This is just gouging. Of course I'm not sure what Congress can do. Its not against the law.
The government is funding a lot of the new drug research anyway. Even if the companies are forced to negotiate drug prices (and they should based on the sheer volume of drug purchased by the government and remember the government is the TAX PAYER) they will and can still make a tidy profit. What should fall by the wayside is multi million dollar CEO salaries, bloated pac budgets and lunches/dinners etc. Pharma needs to trim it's "wasteline".
I would perhaps be concerned with discovery in spite of every single point I am making were it not for the fact that "discovery" has once more turned into vomiting a slew of me-too products into the market. Or products that have questionable value. R&D in pharma? Not that great anymore. Perhaps price negotiations could have a net positive impact in the long run by forcing Pharma to be a little more entrepreneurial.
The business models they hang on to have been in existence for decades. When was the last time you saw a pharma company operate efficiently and effectively? They don't because they are not forced to. People are paid and paid well to fail. I suspect the industry has been damaged more by their exorbitant profit margin than it will be hindered by austerity.
In any case tax payers are on to them. They are no longer being protected by the GOP when the GOP has constituents ringing the phone off the wall complaining. Curb your avarice, bring something of value, trim down pretty much everything and make do with making 10 billion instead of 20 billion.
I'm stuck on this one. As a pharma rep of many years , I'm inclined to say that they shouldn't get involved because my final income has been dependent on my performance & the price of the drug (exclusive drug at the time). This is obviously a very selfish reason. That being said, it is very important to provide very important drugs at an affordable rate (affordability is VERY relative which is another topic on its own). A lot of companies don't independently focus on the affordability aspect as much as they should. Beyond R&D, there are so many useful tools that can help with this. On the sales side, I use a lot of CRM & mapping tools like ZOHO & MAP MY CUSTOMERS to make my day go by faster and sell more effectively. Big companies could easily go in and take this into consideration when pricing drugs.
Pharma has been a target of the government for years. They definitely should NOT be involved in drug pricing. The issue is the price increases and cost to patient, however please consider other industries as well. Do you really think it costs Ford $45,000 to make your car, no way, try about $8 to 10K. The other money goes to benefits, retirees, etc. Similar to drug companies. The money goes to research and develop new meds. If the government gets involved, within 10 years the discovery of new meds and new treatments will cease to exist and Americans will be in a sub optimal medical position. You need the FDA to approve drugs quicker and extend the patent lives and this would allow companies to have much longer than the few years (17 from day of discovery) that they have to recoup their costs.
I have a news flash for you Americans are already in a sub optimal medical position. And another cancer drug that costs 100,000 for 3 months of therapy and extends life 45 days is not the answer to that. Pharma currently spends on Rand D about 1000 Percent less than they spend on marketing the drugs they produce. There is a reason for that. See example provided. How much bullshitting do you have to do to convince people that a 45 day extension on their life is worth 100,000 grand. There is a lack of common sense in pharma. The industry is broken. I have no idea what the answers are but check out how much pharma spends on drug development, compare it to Rand D, and look at the current government funding of pharma. I think you will be surprised. And possibly horrified. The only thing that has really changed is that the secrets of big pharma are now out there. And there are no happy faces.
Until Uncle Sam starts setting up a Pharmaceutical company and wastes taxpayer money on years of research, then stay the fuck out of rhetoric about drug prices and controlling those prices for drugs.
The US pays more for drugs than any other country in the world. As long as politicians are paid by big pharma this horrendous tragedy will never stop.
A- There should be a law that states no politician can accept money from any Healthcare Companies. (including Insurance Companies)
B. Medicare needs to be able to operate like many other insurance companies who negotiate prices. It is ludicrous for the Pharma Industry to rape the taxpayers and seniors. My husband, for example, pays over $1,000.00 A MONTH out of pocket (Medicare and BCBS supplement). This is a drug that has been around since the 1930's and improved in the late 1980's! Companies like Novo Nordisk, Sanofi, Lilly should be wearing Masks! It's one thing to make a profit but it's robbery to price gouge for the benefit of the CEO's and Stockholders.
C. It is just a matter of time before the US Healthcare System is Single Payer. The next generation just won't be able to sustain senior citizenship.
Companies are price gouging. Do you really want to compare people's health care costs to CARS? Companies still profit off the compounds they sell to other countries that have Universal Healthcare and they can certainly profit without price gouging in the US Market.
One day, we will have a leader strong enough to say, "Enough is enough, we need to allow Medicare to negotiate prices, so we can keep Medicare solvent." Problem is, the drug companies pay for politicians campaigns through PACS. Until a Bill is passed to abolish campaign bribes and lobbyists these obscene prices will continue and Medicare will bankrupt by the time we need it.
Quit drinking the big pharma kool aid. Trust me, they lie when they tell you how much money it takes to bring a drug to market and they make up the deficit in about six months to a year then everything is pure profit minus the pennies it takes to manufacture. Cry me a River.....
Speaking as someone who lost a parent to lung cancer (non smoker). Suddenly everyday from their diagnosis became precious , each of the 45 more days is a gift that are really priceless. Also, for the patient, it's more time to for them to put their affairs in order. What they thought they would be able to do as they gradually grew older, now is a sudden race.
Here is the thing though. The government insurance companies and patients are the ones who pay for that research already. As we all know drugs are paid by reimbursement and cash payers. List for me the reimbursement payers as we know who the cash ones are. These are the ones calling for the reform of prices and rightfully so since they pay for it. Doctors have to yake what they get from government and insurance reimbursement, why shouldn't pharma? They don't want to lower their prices, okay then no more medicaid and medicare reimbursement either.
I do agree with what I read about shortening the FDA approval process time. Also, the clock on patent expiration should move to approval date and not discovery date.
The government is involved BIG time in the discovery of new drugs and has been for my entire adult life. Research Grants to the tune of millions to universities, then if there's a hit, the drug companies swoop down and try to gobble up a profitable discovery.
That's why the drug companies call it "R&D" and refuse to separate the two expenditures on their books. The "R" is past tense - all subcontracted if done at all. The drug companies are finks, run by selfish and greedy people. Real scientists share their data, Rx companies make you sign agreements that you'll never tell. It isn't about patient health, it is about profits.
That's why the drug companies call it "R&D" and refuse to separate the two expenditures on their books. The "R" is past tense - all subcontracted if done at all. The drug companies are finks, run by selfish and greedy people. Real scientists share their data, Rx companies make you sign agreements that you'll never tell. It isn't about patient health, it is about profits.
All of you pharma haters can suck it! While the car example was dead-on, it holds true for pretty much EVERYTHING we have to 'consume'. So why is the bulls-eye always on Pharma? Surely other industry CEO's don't have bloated salaries (tongue firmly planted in cheek)?
With all do sympathy rightfully given to those with congenital or inheritable dread diseases, I wonder how many Americans suffer from conditions that are a direct result from their own life-style choices? Surely we can't expect entitled Americans to actually take responsibility for their own actions - it's always someone else's fault right?
With all do sympathy rightfully given to those with congenital or inheritable dread diseases, I wonder how many Americans suffer from conditions that are a direct result from their own life-style choices? Surely we can't expect entitled Americans to actually take responsibility for their own actions - it's always someone else's fault right?