> it would take years and cost a lot of money for any putative competitor to get a generic version through FDA approvals It's more than that, the FDA grants ad

> it would take years and cost a lot of money for any putative competitor to get a generic version through FDA approvals It's more than that, the FDA grants advertising exclusivity, which is de jure weaker than patents (the patent office and the law regulates patent criteria, the FDA cannot) but is de facto just as effective, and is an IP lock on the product. (I would also call this "not really free market capitalism")