U.S. patients certainly subsidize drug research. There are frequent calls for re-importation of drugs from other countries because, often, they are identical to

U.S. patients certainly subsidize drug research. There are frequent calls for re-importation of drugs from other countries because, often, they are identical to the U.S. drugs, but have been bought by foreign governments exercising monopoly purchasing power. It makes sense for the drug company to sell at the discount because the manufacturing cost is so low that it is still profitable. Consequently, U.S. patients, who do not get the monopoly proxy, pay the higher cost. This often leads to accusations of price gouging. However, looking at the returns on investment from publicly listed companies suggests that they are not charging extortionary fees. There financial figures are in line with that of the tech industry. Granted, drug costs only one element among many in the debate, but I am pretty confident in saying that if drug costs were uniform, other countries would be paying more and the U.S. would be paying less (relative to current spending.)