A close family friend worked in a high position in one of the largest drug co's in the world. The bottom line is - total inefficiency, supported by the sick and dying, a cooperative Congress, and subsidies by unwilling taxpayers, who are taken to the cleaners.
He tells me in Switzerland, the home of this drug giant, drugs are 1/3 the price, there is no gov't subsidy, and docs are all in private practice, make lots of money. The secret? One payer, and no other gov't intervention, other than inspections and arbitration of disputes.
The US pays nearly $30b to research drugs which are given free to pharmas to commercialize and sell for 10x
I'd be supportive of creative and productive drug development, and buy any company developing or producing same (I have GERN for example, in the hi-risk port), but the current legislation is a giveaway of typical monsterous proportions, from taxpayers, to corporations. Get them off the dole, and let them build drugs on their own nickel and compete with the rest of the world. |
