The market for food is different from the market for essential (=life-saving) medicine in that foodstuffs are largely fungible. Consumers can choose from a larg

The market for food is different from the market for essential (=life-saving) medicine in that foodstuffs are largely fungible. Consumers can choose from a large variety of roughly equivalent products (e.g., substituting chicken for beef, potatoes for rice, etc.), whereas a diabetic patient cannot switch to a blood pressure medicine. Markets for many common foods can be about the same size as the national population. But markets for drugs will always be a fraction, often a tiny fraction, of the population. Price is also a consideration. While the USDA estimates it is possible to feed a family of four for around $10,000/year, many new drugs cost ten times that amount (well beyond the ability of many individuals, even insured individuals, to pay.)