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Scott at Slate Star Codex recently discussed this in depth: http://slatestarcodex.com/2016/09/07/reverse-voxsplaining-brand-name-drugs/ http://slatestarcodex.co

by endtime 10y ago

Scott at Slate Star Codex recently discussed this in depth: http://slatestarcodex.com/2016/09/07/reverse-voxsplaining-brand-name-drugs/ http://slatestarcodex.com/2016/09/07/reverse-voxsplaining-br... tl;dr: Regulation is the problem, not the solution.

rickycook 10y ago
or potentially more correctly, "the regulations" are the problem, since plenty of health care systems work much more efficiently with different regulations so saying that regulation is the problem is clearly incorrect
pjc50 10y ago
Unregulated medicine is literally where the phrase "snake oil" comes from, meaning an oversold but ineffective solution.
- UncleSlacky 10y ago
  Ironically, the original snake oil actually worked: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/snake-oil-salesmen-knew-something/ http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/snake-oil-salesmen...
  - GFischer 10y ago
    Really interesting, hadn't read that :) . Might be worth a submission of its own.
- infinite8s 10y ago
  Not only ineffective, but often times actually dangerous.
mseebach 10y ago
There's an excellent comment by the author on the predecessor post to the linked one (which is, in itself, quite excellent), elaborating on why regulation is actually a worthwhile target, and not just a convenient scapegoat -- worth quoting in full: > I understand why you think it’s bad to lump all regulations together in the category “regulation”, but in this case, I think it sort of makes sense. I think there’s a general principle that once you pass dumb regulations, it’s going to make bad things happen, and then if you try to solve those bad things by passing further regulations, you’re just going to get caught in an endless trap. So first they regulate Mylan into a monopoly on EpiPens. Then they realize that made them too expensive, so they regulate that the government gets to set the price of drugs. Then drug companies stop making EpiPens to switch to more profitable unregulated drugs, so the government has to mandate that you’re not allowed to be a drug company unless you make a certain amount of EpiPens below cost. So drug companies leave the US and headquarter overseas to avoid that law, and then the government regulates that only drug companies headquartered in America can sell drugs in America. Then cheaper foreign drugs start coming in as contraband, so the government regulates that all packages must be inspected at the border. Then drug mules ingest contraband medications into their bodies, so now everyone entering the country needs to have an X-ray… I realize some of these steps are probably stupid and would never happen, but I think there’s a risk of this general sort of thing, where you play Whack-A-Mole against the economy, and each mole you whack decreases efficiency and just makes another mole come up somewhere else. http://slatestarcodex.com/2016/08/29/reverse-voxsplaining-drugs-vs-chairs/#comment-403064 http://slatestarcodex.com/2016/08/29/reverse-voxsplaining-dr...

by endtime 10y ago

rickycook 10y ago

or potentially more correctly, "the regulations" are the problem, since plenty of health care systems work much more efficiently with different regulations so saying that regulation is the problem is clearly incorrect

pjc50 10y ago

Unregulated medicine is literally where the phrase "snake oil" comes from, meaning an oversold but ineffective solution.

UncleSlacky 10y ago
Ironically, the original snake oil actually worked: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/snake-oil-salesmen-knew-something/ http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/snake-oil-salesmen...
- GFischer 10y ago
  Really interesting, hadn't read that :) . Might be worth a submission of its own.
infinite8s 10y ago
Not only ineffective, but often times actually dangerous.

mseebach 10y ago

There's an excellent comment by the author on the predecessor post to the linked one (which is, in itself, quite excellent), elaborating on why regulation is actually a worthwhile target, and not just a convenient scapegoat -- worth quoting in full: > I understand why you think it’s bad to lump all regulations together in the category “regulation”, but in this case, I think it sort of makes sense. I think there’s a general principle that once you pass dumb regulations, it’s going to make bad things happen, and then if you try to solve those bad things by passing further regulations, you’re just going to get caught in an endless trap. So first they regulate Mylan into a monopoly on EpiPens. Then they realize that made them too expensive, so they regulate that the government gets to set the price of drugs. Then drug companies stop making EpiPens to switch to more profitable unregulated drugs, so the government has to mandate that you’re not allowed to be a drug company unless you make a certain amount of EpiPens below cost. So drug companies leave the US and headquarter overseas to avoid that law, and then the government regulates that only drug companies headquartered in America can sell drugs in America. Then cheaper foreign drugs start coming in as contraband, so the government regulates that all packages must be inspected at the border. Then drug mules ingest contraband medications into their bodies, so now everyone entering the country needs to have an X-ray… I realize some of these steps are probably stupid and would never happen, but I think there’s a risk of this general sort of thing, where you play Whack-A-Mole against the economy, and each mole you whack decreases efficiency and just makes another mole come up somewhere else. http://slatestarcodex.com/2016/08/29/reverse-voxsplaining-drugs-vs-chairs/#comment-403064 http://slatestarcodex.com/2016/08/29/reverse-voxsplaining-dr...