Posted on 02/22/2012 7:32:29 AM PST by writer33
Presidential candidate Rick Santorum recently had an interesting exchange with a mother about the high cost of medicines. As reported by Ed Silverman on February 3rd on his Pharmalot blog, Santorum defended the right of biopharmaceutical companies to make a profit in order to fund R&D and to discover more innovative medications: “There are many people sick today who, 10 years from now, are going to be alive because of some drug invented in the next 10 years. If we say: ‘You drug companies are greedy and bad, you can’t make a return on your money,’ then we freeze innovation.” As is to be expected in an election year, Santorum’s remarks divided the populace, with ABC News running the headline: “Rick Santorum Tells Sick Kid Market Should Set Drug Prices.” Surely, this is a thorny issue but, when the hyperbole is removed, Santorum’s stance that the marketplace should be the arbiter of pricing and availability of new medicines is rooted in the fundamentals that allow the biopharmaceutical industry not just to operate but to innovate.
Santorum’s views reflect the current US healthcare system which differs from policies in Western Europe. Some argue that the US should get in line with other parts of the world, where governments regulate drug prices and determine whether people should even be allowed to have access to drugs that, while safe and effective, are deemed too expensive given the benefit they provide.
(Excerpt) Read more at forbes.com ...
For those interested.
totally true
In simple terms.
Why would drug makers bother to innovate if the have a mandated market?
The sole purpose of the FDA is to grant crony monopolies.
People regularly move back and forth between the FDA and industry to grease the skids for their products, and grease a few palms along the way.
Of course! Competition is the backbone of our economy, in
the real world!
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