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Politics : A US National Health Care System? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: TimF who wrote (8187)	8/12/2009 1:09:30 PM
From: i-node	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 42652

It happens all over the world, but if much of the profit is squeezed out of the US market the incentive for both American and non-American companies to pay for it goes down. True, but most of the new drugs coming to market around the world are a result of research conducted in the US. When Obama talks, as he did yesterday, about shortening the terms of drug patents, this translates to reduced R&D because new drugs aren't as profitable as before. The rate of R&D will slow, with the end result being that everyone suffers. I'm not saying we couldn't improve the patent situation somehow, but it seems to me a case of oversimplifying to say we're just going to shorten patents. Perhaps the length of a patent should be determined, in part, by the number of R&D dollars spent to obtain it, something like that. If a drug company can get only a 5 year patent for a drug they can't recoup the investment in, why bother?

To: TimF who wrote (8187)	8/12/2009 1:19:46 PM
From: skinowski	3 Recommendations Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 42652

Nationalized healthcare systems of many nations tell drug companies how much they are willing to pay them -- or else. And screw everyone else. I view this as a new form of old fashioned economic protectionism. They all know that we need new meds, but they refuse to pay, expecting that someone else will be there to pick up the tab. That's another example of governments interfering with markets, and some day we may all pay for this a tragic price.