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Absurd, the price of albuterol has gone up 10 fold since patents have been reinforced on it. When companies have patents on life saving drugs they can charge wh

Absurd, the price of albuterol has gone up 10 fold since patents have been reinforced on it. When companies have patents on life saving drugs they can charge whatever they want. If they have no patent, they are forced to keep the price low enough so no one wants to compete.

teekert 11y ago
You do understand that the profits go partly back into making new drugs? And also partly into paying people with families? Again: I understand the need for keeping medicines cheap but the removal of patents seems like an overkill with adverse effects. > If they have no patent, they are forced to keep the price low enough so no one wants to compete. ... And no one feels like inventing a new drug that will immediately be copied and sold at a price near that of the raw materials (the only overhead is the factory) making it impossible to pay all the scientists who are working on the next drug.
- doki_pen 11y ago
  I was simply counter-pointing the contention that patents don't affect prices. You are making a completely separate argument.
jcadam 11y ago
The new albuterol inhalers are inferior to the old. The "innovation" was the removal of CFCs (asthma inhalers were an exception to the CFC ban, until recently). This required new, patentable, formulations (though the 'active' ingredient remained the same), which gave us the sucktastic, easy-clogging, overpriced sulfate-based inhalers we have today. The pharma companies were all too willing to go along with the EPA on this one. The FDA and EPA would have you believe this transition went smoothly for asthmatics. They are lying. Some people are allergic to the new inhalers (sulfates can irritate the airways), which led to the creation of a black market for the old ones, but that supply is bound to run out eventually. With insurance, I pay about $40 for one of the new inhalers (If you're poor and don't have insurance, you get to die, I guess). Generally they make my breathing more constricted for a minute or two until the albuterol kicks in, so I try to avoid taking a hit from my inhaler unless I'm really having trouble. Nice. Fortunately, since I moved to a beach town on the coast of Florida last year, I haven't needed my inhaler very often. Unfortunately, I'm no longer willing to relocate for work (dirty, city air is the worst), now that I've found a place where the air isn't trying to kill me. :)

teekert 11y ago

You do understand that the profits go partly back into making new drugs? And also partly into paying people with families? Again: I understand the need for keeping medicines cheap but the removal of patents seems like an overkill with adverse effects. > If they have no patent, they are forced to keep the price low enough so no one wants to compete. ... And no one feels like inventing a new drug that will immediately be copied and sold at a price near that of the raw materials (the only overhead is the factory) making it impossible to pay all the scientists who are working on the next drug.

doki_pen 11y ago
I was simply counter-pointing the contention that patents don't affect prices. You are making a completely separate argument.

jcadam 11y ago

The new albuterol inhalers are inferior to the old. The "innovation" was the removal of CFCs (asthma inhalers were an exception to the CFC ban, until recently). This required new, patentable, formulations (though the 'active' ingredient remained the same), which gave us the sucktastic, easy-clogging, overpriced sulfate-based inhalers we have today. The pharma companies were all too willing to go along with the EPA on this one. The FDA and EPA would have you believe this transition went smoothly for asthmatics. They are lying. Some people are allergic to the new inhalers (sulfates can irritate the airways), which led to the creation of a black market for the old ones, but that supply is bound to run out eventually. With insurance, I pay about $40 for one of the new inhalers (If you're poor and don't have insurance, you get to die, I guess). Generally they make my breathing more constricted for a minute or two until the albuterol kicks in, so I try to avoid taking a hit from my inhaler unless I'm really having trouble. Nice. Fortunately, since I moved to a beach town on the coast of Florida last year, I haven't needed my inhaler very often. Unfortunately, I'm no longer willing to relocate for work (dirty, city air is the worst), now that I've found a place where the air isn't trying to kill me. :)