4 ms·
I'm late to the party on this one, but (as I've probably posted here before) the root cause of high drug prices in the US comes back to the US's broken politica
by mft_ 3y ago
I'm late to the party on this one, but (as I've probably posted here before) the root cause of high drug prices in the US comes back to the US's broken political system.
Pharma companies charge more in the US because they can - because there are no strong reasons not to, and no mechanisms to prevent them doing so. And it's possible for big pharma to maintain this status quo because the political system in the US, with big money from lots of different companies and sectors funding politicians directly and indirectly, allows it.
Short of a conviction-driven leader (in the vein of Bernie Sanders, [or, surprisingly, Trump! - tough rhetoric on drug pricing was about the only thing I agreed with him on, although little was ultimately delivered]) or major changes to political funding (e.g. tight limits on funding of and spending by politicians, as exists in many other countries) nothing will change.
- rabf 3y agoAnd yet without those high prices drug discovery and testing would progress at a far slower pace. The US does subsidize the bringing of new drugs to the market for the rest of the world, but as the richest nation that seems somewhat unsurprising. I my mind the development of new drugs is one of the better uses for a nations capitol.
- mft_ 3y agoYou're absolutely right; but I'd argue that that doesn't excuse the human cost of this situation within the US, or that it's an unfair situation that because the political system isn't actually working in the interests of most people in the US, the country is being taken advantage of in this manner.