4 ms·
I'm not really sure you understand the situation. A pharmaceutical company makes a drug which they priced when they acquired it a long time ago, they're the on
by Shanea93 10y ago
I'm not really sure you understand the situation.
A pharmaceutical company makes a drug which they priced when they acquired it a long time ago, they're the only company which makes a drug for that specific condition.
The drug is priced at $13.50 per pill, which is sold in bottles of 80 pills and is covered by insurance, with a co-pay of $20. Most bottles actually cost only $1, which is a federally mandated amount for a prescription for those on medicaid.
The company (which only has margins of 8%, which is a very low amount) realises that the costs of their only successful drug are going to put them out of business and that they need to raise the price of the drug or stop selling it. This would mean no longer selling the only cure to toxoplasmosis.
They decide that raising the cost by 50x would allow them to continue R&D in to other rare diseases, so they could make other pills.
When they raise the costs to $750 per pill, everyone can still get their pills. The insurance co-pay of $20 per bottle is still exactly the same. The medicaid prescription cost of $1 per bottle is still exactly the same.
Nothing changes for the end user, it costs the exact same, the insurance company picks up the extra tab for the pills and the 2,000 people yearly who need this drug are able to survive.
You should really investigate the situation fully before blindly believing the story the media has sold to you.
- lotsofpulp 10y agoHow can nothing change for the end user? If the insurance company is picking up the tab, then the cost of insurance has to rise and/or the insurance benefits have to be cut (i.e. drug is no longer covered or co pay rises).
- Shanea93 10y agoWell, the good thing about Daraprim, the drug for toxoplasmosis, is that it completely cures you of the condition. So sure, your insurance will rise because you made a claim, but it won't raise that much, since you don't have any medical conditions going forward. Your insurance going up by 20/30% a year is definitely preferable to the actual medical costs you would incur in hospitals if the company who sell Daraprim went out of business.
- morgante 10y agoThere are only a few thousand people buying the drug, while there are millions of insurance customers. The effect on premiums is maybe a cent at most.
- whatusername 10y agoYou didn't mention PSI: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-05-19/the-real-reason-big-pharma-wants-to-help-pay-for-your-prescription http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-05-19/the-real-r...
- busyant 10y agoIf you're familiar w/ Martin's previous business dealings, you would know that his business model had nothing to do with research. What he has done (twice) is find a niche drug whose supply could be constrained (thiola @ Retrophin and daraprim @ Turing) and gouged the price on it. Claims to being interested in R&D were nothing but public relations. You should read the SEC complaint against him (https://www.sec.gov/litigation/complaints/2015/comp-pr2015-282.pdf https://www.sec.gov/litigation/complaints/2015/comp-pr2015-2...). Not the type of person I want to consort with.
- moron4hire 10y agoThe company going out of business would almost certainly not mean the drug would stop being available. The company's assets would have to be liquidated and the rights to the drug would be bought by another company. Hopefully one that is a little better at managing their expenses such that they don't put themselves into similar "price gouge or die" situations.
- 918791281 10y agoEither Wikipedia is wrong (possible), or you are the one who should investigate: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyrimethamine https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyrimethamine
- enibundo 10y agoI think he's a shame to my country (Albania)... When you hear him speaking publicly you can understand the guy is a douche just by personal judgement without even needing to be influenced by the media.