Posted on 10/31/2011 7:52:30 AM PDT by Beaten Valve
Using the legal force of an executive order, President Obama is taking action on the health care front as part of his pressure on Congress for action on his jobs plan.
White House officials say at a midday signing ceremony in the Oval Office, the president will address price gouging and the availability of prescription drugs. He will also endorse what he describes as bipartisan legislation awaiting action.
“The shortage of prescription drugs drives up costs, leaves consumers vulnerable to price gouging and threatens our health and safety,” an administration official says.
(Excerpt) Read more at abcnews.go.com ...
It cost upward of 300 million to develop any new drug..”
The cost has been over $1 billion for some time now and that money must be replaced before the company patent runs out. I’m glad I no longer work for big Pharma, so many jobs have now been out sourced. BTW, the vast number of my colleagues were huge Clinton and now Obama supporters.
Visit to doctor: $150
Cost of paper doctor writes prescription on: $0.02
Percent markup: 749,800%!
Yep, that too. Also forgotten is legal issues. Drug companies keep a legal department on the payroll too. That adds to the cost. El Presidante can write all the XO’s to bring down the cost of drugs but all it will do is drive them overseas. Then how will the FDA control them?
Doesn't this administration limit or prohibit the import of drugs? (for the good of the population)
“Cost of research, development, testing and advertising: a billion dollars or more.”
Yes and then you have 7 years to recoup all of your R&D expenses before the generic producers are all over you and you lose a lot of market share.
The cost of a single item used in a drug (or any complex solution) is not indicative of the expenses needed to discover the indicated chemical, pass the entire FDA gamut of testing needed to show that this drug is safe for general human use, pediatric use or end of life use.
Remember Thalidomide? Cheap enough drug, but no one expected a need to look at its effects on future generations.
There is no such thing as a “cheap” or “generic” drug, until AFTER a company spends $100 million and $1 billion to determine if it is even worthwhile.
More unconstitutional “legislation” from the WH.
And the ball-less congress stands by doing nothing.
That is the most asinine, narrow minded, uneducated worthless post I believe I've ever seen. That looks like something the Obama administration would release as reason to do this. You have zip, zero, NO CLUE as to what goes into getting one of these drugs to market. If you did, you'd understand why the consumer price is what it is. The cost of ingredients is almost no factor at all on the selling price. That's like saying that when you buy a car, you're just paying for the raw plastic and metal. Do a little research into what goes into getting one of these drugs to market and you'll understand.
This sonofabitch has taken over the country! He’s gotta be stopped!
And, yet, you push dog and horse(sh!t) relief on your home page!
The article doesn’t indicate what this directive really says.
Then there is liability cost. Think "big awards against big pharma".
probably not, lately, I have found out from reading the pamphlets, that many of these new prescriptions actually cause the symptoms that you are written the prescription for in the first place.
Anti depressant drugs cause anxiety, depression along with a whole bunch of allergic reactions including death.
yep.
The stroke of a pen can destroy a complete industry and remove American advantage immediately!
The companies? Probably relocate taking technological advantage and employment out of the country.....
I didn’t think jackasses could hold pens!
Excuse me? Where did you get your consumer price?
The name brand Claritin I found at the most expensive place was $99.97 for 100 tabs and it looks like a big part of the cost there is the making up of a special bottle.
If you are willing to live with items being prepackaged you can get Claritin in the 45 count bottle for $25.56 for 45 tabs.
I can't check on the cost of the active ingredients because they are not available but as the first numbers were so far off I would doubt them as well.
I agree that the price of name brand items is outrageous, although for some people name brand is the only thing that works, but your claims are a bit out there.
Anyway....here’s one thing people need to understand, and this is only one example.
Claritin: 10 mg
Consumer Price (100 tablets): $215.17
Cost of general active ingredients: $0.71
Percent markup: 30,306%
Here is what you fail to take into consideration:
Schering Plough's profit margin last year was 22%. That is a long way from what would be derived from a mark-up you note. I'm not saying your numbers are incorrect, just pointing out that there is more to them. Every person in the distribution chain adds his/her mark-up to the product - it is the reason for being in business. The end cost is not completely determined by the pharma company.
It cost just north of $500 million to develop and bring to market Claritin. Add to this the patient liability and potential nuissance lawsuit payoffs and you are talking some real money. A company making a profit of 22% annually is not gouging - they are doing well in comparison with my industry, but more power to them - why would you risk over a half a billion of investor dollars if there was not an upside on the back-end?
Seriously, it's illegal.
I’ve noticed that because they make so few Rolex watches, the price is higher than I like.
I’m waiting for the executive order that fixes that.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.