Drug prices continued: Innovation?

Pharmaceutical manufacturers claim that they need patent protection and marketing exclusivity so they can charge high prices to recoup the costs of drug development and clinical trials. There are a few things wrong with this argument, but they add up to the general fact that the system does not serve the public interest. Drug companies care about one thing only, that is profit. And the pursuit of profit does not serve the interests of public health or social welfare.One obvious mismatch between the goal of public health and the goal of profit is that a relatively cheap drug that you can take once or for a week or so, that will cure you, is not nearly as profitable as a expensive drug that you have to take for the rest of your life, and an expensive drug you have to take for the rest of your life is even better, from the perspective of pharmacy executives. That is why we don ' t see any new antibiotics coming out of the industry despite the looming crisis of drug resistance. It ' s why we do see a lot of very expensive cancer therapies.  Don ' t get me wrong -- the revolution in scientific understanding of the genetic mechanisms of malignancy has resulted in greatly improved survival and quality of life for many people with cancer. But, first of all, there is a huge range in benefits. Some treatments cost a hundred thousand dollars or more and usually give people only a few extra months of life. We can have a philosophical debate about whether that ' s worth it, but ...
Source: Stayin' Alive - Category: American Health Source Type: blogs