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As much as my compassionate side is siding with hospitals and patients, the company should be allowed to charge any price it considers reasonable for its produc

As much as my compassionate side is siding with hospitals and patients, the company should be allowed to charge any price it considers reasonable for its product. Also I didn't like the inconspicuous ad hominem attacks on the supply-side players. The side-effect is that it leads the reader away from a subtle observation that the fair market controls to prevent these policies are simply missing and regulators have done little if nothing to prevent it. For instance, what does it mean 'controlled' distribution? Why is it difficult for the FDA to maintain reference formulas and manufacturing blueprints for all approved drugs past their patent-expiration date?

jcromartie 11y ago
> any price it considers reasonable What if the "reasonable" price is set by a delusional sociopath?
ZenoArrow 11y ago
Should they be able to charge whatever they want when they have no competition? Isn't that against the whole free market ethos? The logic being followed by this particular pharmaceutical company is that because it's a niche market the impact of these large price hikes is minimal. However, the impact is not minimal for those that depend on the drug, who are getting stiffed, either left with prices they may not be able to afford or increased insurance costs (either paid by the individual or their employer). There should be a cap on behaviour such as this, such as prices cannot increase 50% above inflation in a single year. Details would need to be worked out but at least controls such as this would give the market time to respond, bringing in new competition, etc...
- x0ra 11y ago
  > Should they be able to charge whatever they want when they have no competition? Isn't that against the whole free market ethos? of course not.
gpcz 11y ago
The US Government had serious trouble reproducing FOGBANK ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FOGBANK https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FOGBANK ), and one cause was that even the original chemical engineers didn't fully understand the role of a certain impurity in a material. Is it possible to produce blueprints for a chemical plant that doesn't omit some inherent but important knowledge?

jcromartie 11y ago

> any price it considers reasonable What if the "reasonable" price is set by a delusional sociopath?

ZenoArrow 11y ago

Should they be able to charge whatever they want when they have no competition? Isn't that against the whole free market ethos? The logic being followed by this particular pharmaceutical company is that because it's a niche market the impact of these large price hikes is minimal. However, the impact is not minimal for those that depend on the drug, who are getting stiffed, either left with prices they may not be able to afford or increased insurance costs (either paid by the individual or their employer). There should be a cap on behaviour such as this, such as prices cannot increase 50% above inflation in a single year. Details would need to be worked out but at least controls such as this would give the market time to respond, bringing in new competition, etc...

x0ra 11y ago
> Should they be able to charge whatever they want when they have no competition? Isn't that against the whole free market ethos? of course not.

gpcz 11y ago

The US Government had serious trouble reproducing FOGBANK ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FOGBANK https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FOGBANK ), and one cause was that even the original chemical engineers didn't fully understand the role of a certain impurity in a material. Is it possible to produce blueprints for a chemical plant that doesn't omit some inherent but important knowledge?