IMHO this reflects the problem of applying free market principles, where cost depends on demand, to things like healthcare and education: 1) Demand is absolute

IMHO this reflects the problem of applying free market principles, where cost depends on demand, to things like healthcare and education: 1) Demand is absolute: How much would you pay to live rather than die? For some of these drugs the charge could be 'your life savings' and people would pay. 2) Free market pricing is efficient because it distributes goods based on who wants it more (i.e., who will pay more). But for survival, everyone wants it equally; it's merely distributing goods to who can pay more. 3) It's immoral to have people's lives depend on how much money they happen to have. That is, I don't think person A's life is more valuable than person B's because person A has more money. The free market is a great tool, but like any tool it doesn't solve every problem.