4 ms·

It was my understanding from the article that originally there were several versions of the drug, then something changed (the author seemed to blame the FDA) af

by roel_v 16y ago

It was my understanding from the article that originally there were several versions of the drug, then something changed (the author seemed to blame the FDA) after which there was only 1 left, and then there was a price hike. Now it's quite possible that I'm wrong - what was the cheap version that the author was taking before then? Wasn't it a product of a competitor? And if so, why isn't it available any more?

ctdonath 16y ago
Whatever the prior sources (IIRC, pharmacists could just whip up a batch), making it was cheap, legal, and unrestricted due to grandfathering. FDA wanted to regulate it, and granted someone exclusive rights to achieve it. It's not available now because the FDA wanted certain tests done which hadn't been. No company did the tests because it wasn't worth their time/money to do so. The FDA _made_ it worth someone's time and money by offering them exclusive rights for 3 years if they did the tests. One company ran the tests, got approved, and was granted exclusivity as a reward. Supply plummeted (manufacturing went from many sources down to one), demand remained high, and prices increased 50x as a natural consequence. The Law of Supply and Demand rules. It always does. Screw with it and you'll get hurt. The FDA screwed with it, and people got hurt.
- roel_v 16y ago
  OK thanks, that's indeed a different chains of events than I initially thought, but the derived reasoning still holds - the FDA should've stayed out to begin with.
- mukyu 16y ago
  It was not legal to make these drugs. However, the FDA did not want to suddenly get rid of drugs people were already taking so focused their efforts on drugs that they thought were harmful first. Drug testing is designed to prevent actually harm. With the manufacturer's plan it seems that the only people that will have to pay significantly more make over $100k/yr and probably have it covered under their health insurance anyways.

by roel_v 16y ago

ctdonath 16y ago

Whatever the prior sources (IIRC, pharmacists could just whip up a batch), making it was cheap, legal, and unrestricted due to grandfathering. FDA wanted to regulate it, and granted someone exclusive rights to achieve it. It's not available now because the FDA wanted certain tests done which hadn't been. No company did the tests because it wasn't worth their time/money to do so. The FDA _made_ it worth someone's time and money by offering them exclusive rights for 3 years if they did the tests. One company ran the tests, got approved, and was granted exclusivity as a reward. Supply plummeted (manufacturing went from many sources down to one), demand remained high, and prices increased 50x as a natural consequence. The Law of Supply and Demand rules. It always does. Screw with it and you'll get hurt. The FDA screwed with it, and people got hurt.

roel_v 16y ago
OK thanks, that's indeed a different chains of events than I initially thought, but the derived reasoning still holds - the FDA should've stayed out to begin with.
mukyu 16y ago
It was not legal to make these drugs. However, the FDA did not want to suddenly get rid of drugs people were already taking so focused their efforts on drugs that they thought were harmful first. Drug testing is designed to prevent actually harm. With the manufacturer's plan it seems that the only people that will have to pay significantly more make over $100k/yr and probably have it covered under their health insurance anyways.