One company CEO's decision to exploit his monopoly of an important drug to increase its price by a factor of 55-fold is despicable indeed. However, it should not be used as a rationale by politicians to mandate government price controls on all Rxs.
price controls
In today s you could have predicted this department, we are going to take a look back at the rather naive mindset of the American public that took center stage about five years ago.
At that time, the pharmaceutical industry was facing the patent cliff the loss of the patent life of some of the best selling drugs. Once the patent of the original discovery expires, any company is then free to manufacture the generic version of the same drug the next day.
Seems like old times: a few expensive new drugs (although money-saving in the long-term) lead to renewed calls for negotiated prices for Medicare patients price controls. Short-term savings are short-sighted however: politicians think long-term is the next election.
An article in the Oct. 12th New York Times takes an astounding 3800 words to make one point: Drug companies are charging much more (too much?) for their products in the U.S. compared to other parts of the world.