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What the article leaves out is that the real reason is that there are laws that were specifically passed to make import of drugs nearly impossible and illegal i
by turc1656 9y ago
What the article leaves out is that the real reason is that there are laws that were specifically passed to make import of drugs nearly impossible and illegal in most cases. The system is tightly controlled such that no price arbitrage can be had. This shit wouldn't fly with any other product. If it wasn't illegal, companies would be buying in bulk and importing to the US since the US price is literally 10,000x higher. Price would converge quickly. But Congress decided that should be outlawed. And to be clear, we're not talking about off-brand or fake pills that are manufactured in violation of the patent owners wishes. We're talking about the same pills manufactured by, for example, GSK and shipped to different locations around the world. The current system is simply global welfare that everyone in the US pays for.
- ZeroGravitas 9y agoThis seemed a great comment until the very last sentence. Are you really claiming that Congress wanted to fund the advancement of medicine globally, and they did so by banning imports of pharmaceuticals? Surely there's simpler explanations for this that fit the facts better?
- turc1656 9y agoNo, that's not what I'm claiming. I'm claiming that pharmaceutical companies wanted a way to increase profits. They concluded that if they raised prices that would be bad PR because of the poorer nations that couldn't afford it and they would be seen as villains. Yet, the US had the potential to pay more. So they found a way to go right down the middle and lobbied congress hard to pass those laws. Now they get to be the benevolent rich guys who get to prattle about how many doses they donate globally and how cheap they can make the pills in the lesser developed nations while simultaneously ripping off US citizens to cover all that, and more.
- deleted 9y ago[deleted]