And Merck doesn't give free lunches to docs because they like them... fyi
Where the hell do you think medical personnel put themselves and their families when they are sick? In hospitals that deliberately, through omission or commission, turn a blind eye to these infections so they can generate revenue? And that rebuttal doesn't take into account what kind of person would do something like that. Methinks you're projecting your own motivations.
I could give you a lesson in medical economics (you're right about overpriced Tylenol), but your psychology makes it hopeless. Say all you want. I've responded all I will.
The problem (besides government) is that healthcare was, until TEFRA in 1983, by far the worst managed industry in the US. It is still poorly managed. The problem in this specific case is the poor (or maybe accurate, take your pick) cost allocation. Sure, Tylenol costs $ 0.10 or whatever at the drugstore. But in the hospital, much more goes into the "cost", not just the cost-of-goods sold. At home, you procure it yourself, you dispense it yourself, you unwrap it yourself, you administer it to yourself, you don't keep and store written records of it, you don't study it in committee after committee, you don't pay insurance for giving yourself the wrong thing, and at home, you've paid for it--you don't have bad debts, etc.
That doesn't excuse a large component of the higher price, but let's face it--in almost all cases this is "soft" money for which the hospital won't get reimbursed anyway, whether it charges $ 0.05 or $ 1,000 for the same $ 0.10 tablet. And some other drugs have a much higher component cost with respect to the actual cost-of-good sold.
With respect to lunches for Docs, I totally agree with you. I think it's unethical to offer or to accept (I'm old enough to remember when it was really bad). None of my people (we are not physicians) is allowed to accept ANYTHING free, including ball-point pens. And when I go to, say, antibiotic conferences, I decline all airfare, meal costs, and hotel accommodation reimbursement. The drug companies think I'm crazy (I may be, but this isn't proof of it). I pay for it myself simply so there is absolutely no question of ethics. I am continually being accused of being a prig, but that's what I have to be to live with myself.