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Why did Lasik machines decrease in cost, while increasing in efficacy? Drugs were far cheaper before the 1962 FDA Amendments, after that was a massive increase
by WalterBright 1y ago
Why did Lasik machines decrease in cost, while increasing in efficacy?
Drugs were far cheaper before the 1962 FDA Amendments, after that was a massive increase in costs. See "Regulation of Pharmaceutical Innovation" by Sam Peltzman.
https://www.amazon.com/Regulation-Pharmaceutical-Innovation-Amendments-Evaluative/dp/0844731285/ https://www.amazon.com/Regulation-Pharmaceutical-Innovation-...
See also:
How American Health Care Killed My Father
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2009/09/how-american-health-care-killed-my-father/307617/ https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2009/09/how-ame...
- nradov 1y agoDrugs were cheaper back then because they were less safe and effective, and because the easy stuff had mostly already been found.
- WalterBright 1y agoBefore 1962, drugs were already regulated to be safe. 1962 brought about the requirement for effective, which enormously increased drug prices. It's all in the book I referenced.
- nradov 1y agoYes, what's your point? We could have lots of cheap drugs if we don't care whether they actually work.
- WalterBright 1y agoThe reference says what happens with the greatly increased cost to develop a new drug, is the number of new drugs developed dropped dramatically. But the percentage that turned out to be effective stayed the same. So, yes, we are worse off because of that, because we wind up with far fewer effective drugs. A proper solution is for the patient, a legal consenting adult, to sign a piece of paper that says he understands that the FDA has not verified the drug to be effective.