3 ms·

Wrong mind set, they could easily charge 100k+ for the treatment and insurance companies would still jump for joy since it's cheaper over the long run.

by curt 15y ago

djb_hackernews 15y ago
Not really a great deal if 20 years of therapeutic treatments would bring in more than that 100k for the "one time" cure. Also not advocating there is some conspiracy going on here.
- huhtenberg 15y ago
  offtopic -- just curious, are you http://cr.yp.to/djb.html http://cr.yp.to/djb.html or somebody else?
- Symmetry 15y ago
  The two agents of interest here are the person paying for the cure and the person buying it. The person paying for the cure, usually and insurance company, wants it to be as cheap as possible. The person selling the cure is probably not the same between the two treatment scenarios. The hospital administering the treatments might have a motive, but they aren't involved in the decisions about whether to go ahead with research.
burgerbrain 15y ago
Surely a cure to an otherwise generally terminal illness is worth 100k though. I know I would be grateful to pay such a price, the alternative seems to be no cure, and eventual death.
- kenjackson 15y ago
  I'm sure there are tons of people who would be grateful to be in a position to be able to pay such a price. I think a company would be hard-pressed to have a pill that cures cancer -- letting millions die each year, because the pill costs $100k. I think there's a non-trivial possibility that the gov't would take that drug for its own uses.
  - burgerbrain 15y ago
    "I think there's a non-trivial possibility that the gov't would take that drug for its own uses." Is there precedent for such a thing?
    - r00fus 15y ago
      not in the US, AFAIK, but Brazil broke an AIDS treatment patent license to generically deliver drugs to it's poor: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18490388/ns/health-aids/t/brazil-break-merck-aids-drug-patent/ http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18490388/ns/health-aids/t/brazil... Apparently when the negotiations broke down (Brazil wanted the same rate as Thailand but Merck wanted to charge them more), Brazil declared sovereign property rights in the good of it's citizens.
      - kenjackson 15y ago
        We've come close in the US: http://www.fool.com/news/2001/bayzf011025.htm http://www.fool.com/news/2001/bayzf011025.htm This was for Cipro for Anthrax. Bayer, at the last minute, gave in to some pricing concessions. There's also been talks about it happening during some H1N1 and avian flu scares. A $100k pill that cures cancer? I'm not saying it would be taken by the gov't, but I think you'd have to seriously consider it.
        ars 15y ago
        Dialysis was in the same position long ago. A miracle cure, but few could afford it. Today it is the one treatment that is fully covered by the government for everyone. I would imagine something similar would occur here.
  - curt 15y ago
    No they wouldn't there are a lot of procedures that cost more than a 100k (any transplant, open heart, high end implants are more). Really the government and insurance companies would save a fortune if the cure cost between 100k - 200k.

Wrong mind set, they could easily charge 100k+ for the treatment and insurance companies would still jump for joy since it's cheaper over the long run.

by curt 15y ago

Wrong mind set, they could easily charge 100k+ for the treatment and insurance companies would still jump for joy since it's cheaper over the long run.

djb_hackernews 15y ago

Not really a great deal if 20 years of therapeutic treatments would bring in more than that 100k for the "one time" cure. Also not advocating there is some conspiracy going on here.

huhtenberg 15y ago
offtopic -- just curious, are you http://cr.yp.to/djb.html http://cr.yp.to/djb.html or somebody else?
Symmetry 15y ago
The two agents of interest here are the person paying for the cure and the person buying it. The person paying for the cure, usually and insurance company, wants it to be as cheap as possible. The person selling the cure is probably not the same between the two treatment scenarios. The hospital administering the treatments might have a motive, but they aren't involved in the decisions about whether to go ahead with research.

burgerbrain 15y ago

Surely a cure to an otherwise generally terminal illness is worth 100k though. I know I would be grateful to pay such a price, the alternative seems to be no cure, and eventual death.

kenjackson 15y ago
I'm sure there are tons of people who would be grateful to be in a position to be able to pay such a price. I think a company would be hard-pressed to have a pill that cures cancer -- letting millions die each year, because the pill costs $100k. I think there's a non-trivial possibility that the gov't would take that drug for its own uses.
- burgerbrain 15y ago
  "I think there's a non-trivial possibility that the gov't would take that drug for its own uses." Is there precedent for such a thing?
  - r00fus 15y ago
    not in the US, AFAIK, but Brazil broke an AIDS treatment patent license to generically deliver drugs to it's poor: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18490388/ns/health-aids/t/brazil-break-merck-aids-drug-patent/ http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18490388/ns/health-aids/t/brazil... Apparently when the negotiations broke down (Brazil wanted the same rate as Thailand but Merck wanted to charge them more), Brazil declared sovereign property rights in the good of it's citizens.
    - kenjackson 15y ago
      We've come close in the US: http://www.fool.com/news/2001/bayzf011025.htm http://www.fool.com/news/2001/bayzf011025.htm This was for Cipro for Anthrax. Bayer, at the last minute, gave in to some pricing concessions. There's also been talks about it happening during some H1N1 and avian flu scares. A $100k pill that cures cancer? I'm not saying it would be taken by the gov't, but I think you'd have to seriously consider it.
      - ars 15y ago
        Dialysis was in the same position long ago. A miracle cure, but few could afford it. Today it is the one treatment that is fully covered by the government for everyone. I would imagine something similar would occur here.
- curt 15y ago
  No they wouldn't there are a lot of procedures that cost more than a 100k (any transplant, open heart, high end implants are more). Really the government and insurance companies would save a fortune if the cure cost between 100k - 200k.