Complicated topic on a global scale. The rest of the world is very grateful for the US pharmaceutical market. Its unregulated and "free" nature, like consumer

Complicated topic on a global scale. The rest of the world is very grateful for the US pharmaceutical market. Its unregulated and "free" nature, like consumer advertising for prescription drugs - something completely unheard of in civilized countries - allows for massive profits for the pharmaceutical industry. those profits do not happen anywhere else. european agencies control and negotiate prices centrally, emerging markets seems to follow the european model (brazil, china, etc.). those profits do get invested back into r&d, the patent system forces pharma companies to move forward. the recent patent cliff is a great indicator for the system working. pharma r&d would be severly constrainted if not for the profits generated in the US market. on a global scale it looks like a subsidiy by the US people, paying high markups and taking way more drugs than needed - for the good of the rest of the planet. thank you. and keep swallowing pills.