4 ms·
Right now US citizens are basically subsidizing other countries when it comes to drug revenue via price gouging. I would rather it be done via some other more e
by hueving 11y ago
Right now US citizens are basically subsidizing other countries when it comes to drug revenue via price gouging. I would rather it be done via some other more explicit mechanism (e.g. India government subsidies) rather than at the expense of poor healthcare availability to people in the US.
- sandworm101 11y agoConsidering that Americans consume 75% of the world's prescription drugs, and I think it safe to assume an equivalent amount of non-prescription drugs, I don't think any of this makes much difference. The US is a very strange and unique drug market. Citation: "5 percent of the United States is the world's population and consumes 75 percent of the the world's prescription drugs." https://www.drugabuse.gov/related-topics/trends-statistics/infographics/popping-pills-prescription-drug-abuse-in-america https://www.drugabuse.gov/related-topics/trends-statistics/i... (And by "Americans" I and the gov included all those people in the US market who are not "US citizens". Ie me.)
- adrianN 11y agoThat statistic seems a little misleading to me, because very large parts of the world don't consume any prescription drugs at all, because they're too poor to go to the doctor.
- bpodgursky 11y agoYeah, but that's not going to happen. If a big pharm company doesn't provide India-priced versions of drugs, the Indian government just declares the patent invalid and lets generics produce it for free (yes, this happens).
- gruez 11y agoSounds like a good decision by india
- deleted 11y ago[deleted]
- Houshalter 11y agoYes but not a good decision for everyone else. Someone has to pay for the development of these drugs.
- creshal 11y agoIndia wouldn't be able to either way.
- evgen 11y agoYeah, until the US decides that it will retaliate by, for example, adding a 100% import duty to all goods produced in India and no longer supplying visas to Indian citizens.
- dba7dba 11y agoI don't think such retaliation will ever happen. Many lobbyists will be waiting in the hallway of US Senate before ink of the signature dries.
- gradstudent 11y agoThat sounds terrific?
- rdtsc 11y ago> Right now US citizens are basically subsidizing other countries when it comes to drug revenue via price gouging. I am ok with that. They can take even more taxes out every month if it means people get access to better healthcare.
- jessriedel 11y agoDoes it bother you that Europe and the rest of the developing world also free-ride subtantially?
- rdtsc 11y agoNot particularly. By the way pharmaceutical companies also free ride on public universities. Research is often done there. Even if it is from grants, it often means professors end up working and spending their time for pharma companies instead of doing other things like teaching students. Moreover, if our goal is to win hearts and minds and I don't know, promote Democracy (at least that is what the propaganda tells us), isn't providing health saving medication or building hospitals or schools working towards that goal better than say overthrowing their government or threatening to invade. Going back to Western Europe, I hear it is already possibly to go to Germany (or was it Norway) and attend a 4 year university there for free. Isn't that free riding So they can have our pills and we can go there and not pay $200k in student loans. Globalization and free markets, we learned that was a good thing, right ...
- refurb 11y agoBy the way pharmaceutical companies also free ride on public universities. Free ride? You think pharmaceutical companies just come along and pluck the best drugs for free? No, they out-license it from the university and pay royalties. How else would Northwestern University build a brand new chemistry building from their Lyrica royalties?
- Daishiman 11y agoWell, it's evidently cheaper for them to get it from a public resource than actually, you know, developing it from their own labs. So nice for them to be able to pick and choose the successful research while not having to absorb all the other, less interesting research funded with public money.
- lostlogin 11y agoDon't worry, with the Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) we are all signing up for we have agreed to be gouged deeply. New Zealand.