Everyone knows single-payer would be great, but practically speaking we don't have the votes :( I'd also propose a ban on drug marketing, which would reduce ab

Everyone knows single-payer would be great, but practically speaking we don't have the votes :( I'd also propose a ban on drug marketing, which would reduce about half the costs.[1] I don't think that excluding monopoly drugs will work. First, the industry has made significant progress in the past two decades, so for most major diseases, the leading treatment was patented within the last 20 years. Second, drug companies have little incentive to make direct competitors, and R&D effort is better allocated in areas with unmet medical need. Third, unpatented cures are already cheap, so by market size, almost all drugs are monopolies. Over a third of the $333B pharmaceutical market[2] can be attributed to: - Antibody drugs, $100B revenue and growing, almost all after 1997. E.g. Herceptin for HER2+ breast cancer, Humira for arthritis, Avastin for many cancers.[3,4] - The cure for Hepatitis C is patented until 2028, and currently has $20B revenue.[5,6] Disclaimer: I've worked in the industry. [1] http://blogs.sciencemag.org/pipeline/archives/2013/05/23/another_look_at_marketing_vs_rd_in_pharma http://blogs.sciencemag.org/pipeline/archives/2013/05/23/ano... [2] http://trade.gov/topmarkets/pdf/Pharmaceuticals_Executive_Summary.pdf http://trade.gov/topmarkets/pdf/Pharmaceuticals_Executive_Su... [3] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4622599/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4622599/ [4] http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/antibodies-market-north-americas-revenue-share-to-reach-44-in-2016-587799911.html http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/antibodies-market-no... [5] http://www.pharmacompass.com/patent-expiry-expiration/sofosbuvir http://www.pharmacompass.com/patent-expiry-expiration/sofosb... [6] http://www.pharmacompass.com/radio-compass-blog/top-drugs-by-sales-revenue-in-2015-who-sold-the-biggest-blockbuster-drugs http://www.pharmacompass.com/radio-compass-blog/top-drugs-by...