> Without the U.S. subsidizing the drug research R&D, who pays for it? I wish we could stop using this tired trope once and for all in debates about medical ca

> Without the U.S. subsidizing the drug research R&D, who pays for it? I wish we could stop using this tired trope once and for all in debates about medical care. Most medical care is routine and does not require cutting edge drugs. Things like insulin, epinephrine, anesthetics, antibiotics, antihistamines, vaccines, most of those things have been developed in the 1st half of the 20th century. How much do the cutting age drugs account for in the scope of the total health care costs in the US? Even if it was higher than 1% (I'm willing to bet money that it isn't), the marketing budgets for drug companies far exceed their R&D spending.