Why are prescription drugs so expensive compared to socialized nations??

[socialize_me]

Is it just because they subsidize the drugs? If so, I mean I find it hard for them to be able to afford anything else. We spend more on Medicare/Medicaid than on our Defense budget per year...how can these countries like Austria afford it?? Or are there other causes for this significant price differential? Many times the drugs are half that of the United States...it can't be all subisidization by the governments of those nations...what's the deal...

[Nate K]

cause so many sick mother-f@ckers buy medicine so much probably. America uses more drugs than any other country. supply, demand.

[socialize_me]

cause so many sick mother-f@ckers buy medicine so much probably. America uses more drugs than any other country. supply, demand.

There's a shortage of Viagra??

[Join The Paul Side]

Why are prescription drugs so expensive compared to socialized nations??

Because Big Pharma, their lobbyists, and Uncle Sam gotta make that money baby! Gotta keep that gravy train rollin, ya feel me? :p

[tremendoustie]

Corpratism can be even more expensive than socialism. Freedom is of course best of all ... (observe the ever improving prices and quality of the few "free market" medical services -- e.g. lasik)

[nbhadja]

It is because we do not have a free market. The government caused the prices to be high. Big Pharm lobbyists threw millions at politicians and they eliminated the free market for them.

Once again proves governments failure.

[Conza88]

Is it just because they subsidize the drugs? If so, I mean I find it hard for them to be able to afford anything else. We spend more on Medicare/Medicaid than on our Defense budget per year...how can these countries like Austria afford it?? Or are there other causes for this significant price differential? Many times the drugs are half that of the United States...it can't be all subisidization by the governments of those nations...what's the deal...

Your agenda / ignorance is remarkably evident. :)

Why? Because of socialism.

National Socialism that is. You know fascism, which Mussolini later said was better coined as Corporatism... The joining of big businesses & the state... It all becomes remarkably evident, when Australia and the United States where organizing their (MANAGED TRADE Agreements) it became amazingly clear the Phamacutical lobby was going nuts, to make sure the US market would not become open to Australian pharmaceuticals and products (super cheap in comparision) Over night everyone would import Aussie products, by by massive artifical profits for US pharm companies...

Can't have COMPETITION now can we? :rolleyes:

[RoyalShock]

FWIW, I watched a special on TV that talked about this. From what I recall, the socialized nations (like Canada), will only pay a certain price for meds. So what happens is that we in the US make up for the losses by paying higher prices.

And I don't know what the percentage of cost is, but if you've ever discussed it with someone who works at a health clinic, the amount of money that the pharm companies spend trying to wine-and-dine doctors and clinics, as well as leave all those "free samples", is quite large.

Have you ever been in a waiting room and seen someone pulling what looks like a piece of luggage? He/she is probably a pharm rep.

[HOLLYWOOD]

here's the BILL... bought off by Domestic Phramaceutical and Drug corporate donations and Lobbying.

As usual, WE THE PEOPLE... LOSE!

Senate Kills Cheap Import Drug Plan

http://crooksandliars.com/2007/05/08/senate-kills-import-drug-plan/ (http://crooksandliars.com/2007/05/08/senate-kills-import-drug-plan/)



http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18530709/ (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18530709/)

[angelatc]

Is it just because they subsidize the drugs? If so, I mean I find it hard for them to be able to afford anything else. We spend more on Medicare/Medicaid than on our Defense budget per year...how can these countries like Austria afford it?? Or are there other causes for this significant price differential? Many times the drugs are half that of the United States...it can't be all subisidization by the governments of those nations...what's the deal...

We subsdize those drugs. My friend's hsband is an executive at a major drug company, and he told me exactly how it works.

Socialized countries tell the manufacturers how much they will pay. So the drug companies pay that, and price the American drugs to make up the difference.

[angelatc]

cause so many sick mother-f@ckers buy medicine so much probably. America uses more drugs than any other country. supply, demand.

IF that were true the prices would be less, not more. Economies of scale and all that rot...

[fletcher]

We subsdize those drugs. My friend's hsband is an executive at a major drug company, and he told me exactly how it works.

Socialized countries tell the manufacturers how much they will pay. So the drug companies pay that, and price the American drugs to make up the difference.

Yep. Canada, for example, limits how much you can charge for drugs. And thanks to the WTO, the drug companies will lose their patent for the drug in any country sold in within something like 2 years. They want to keep their patent so they sell if for what they can.

[sratiug]

Is it just because they subsidize the drugs? If so, I mean I find it hard for them to be able to afford anything else. We spend more on Medicare/Medicaid than on our Defense budget per year...how can these countries like Austria afford it?? Or are there other causes for this significant price differential? Many times the drugs are half that of the United States...it can't be all subisidization by the governments of those nations...what's the deal...

Most of the "drugs" are simple compounds that cost pennies (if that) per pill to produce. They are only called "drugs" because they have a medical use patent and no one but a doctor (in violation of the constitutional prohibition on titles of nobility) is able to legally prescribe them. Nobody is losing money on this crap.

It's a fucked up world when you can patent a simple compound and make up a new name for it and sell it for thousands of times its real cost. The real cost is in research and development, but you'll find that we pay for most of that through grants from federal agencies to private universities doing the research on our dime. Which explains why more federal aid goes to private insitutions than public ones.

People are stupid too and that helps, even with non-prescription supplements. Go to wal-mart and you can get a month or two's supply of magnesium oxide pills for about $5, look on the net and you can buy around a hundred pounds in bulk for the same amount of money. Expensive bottles are what we pay for.

[AutoDas]

Because of patents we subsidize the drugs for them.

[Jeremy]

It already is socialized enough here.

[tangent4ronpaul]

Most of the "drugs" are simple compounds that cost pennies (if that) per pill to produce. They are only called "drugs" because they have a medical use patent and no one but a doctor (in violation of the constitutional prohibition on titles of nobility) is able to legally prescribe them. Nobody is losing money on this crap.

It's a fucked up world when you can patent a simple compound and make up a new name for it and sell it for thousands of times its real cost. The real cost is in research and development, but you'll find that we pay for most of that through grants from federal agencies to private universities doing the research on our dime. Which explains why more federal aid goes to private insitutions than public ones.

People are stupid too and that helps, even with non-prescription supplements. Go to wal-mart and you can get a month or two's supply of magnesium oxide pills for about $5, look on the net and you can buy around a hundred pounds in bulk for the same amount of money. Expensive bottles are what we pay for.

This is very true! - drugs are expensive because drug companies want to sell them for as much as the market will bare and use lobbyists and BS about safety to scare legislation favorable to their monopoly into existence.

A few points:

US drug companies have a monopoly on the US market - it has to do with FDA regulations about having to inspect factories drugs are made in. They don't inspect factories not owned by US drug companies. Hence no importation or free market.

Big Pharma will tell you that drugs are so expensive because of the expensive R&D cycle and the risk involved of something not panning out. This is BS - they spend 2 dollars for advertising for every dollar the spend on R&D and are the most profitable business sector in the US. They also don't accept foreign research for the approval process, so we have what has become known as the "drug gap" between the US and Europe. Drugs come to market years earlier there than they do here.

The R&D and evaluation process used to take 2 years from invention to market back in 1960, now it takes 12 years or so. The pharmaceutical companies lobbied for this. It's taken steadily longer over the years and is used as justification to increase the price and have been trying to extend the length of the patent.

We patent the molecule, some other countries like India patent the synthesis process so it's legal for multiple companies to make the same drug if they go about different ways to make it. Indian drugs are just as good and safe as US drugs but are illegal in the US.

Drug companies set the shelf life of drugs, but have lobbied so that no drug can have a shelf life longer than 5 years. This leads to many drugs being wasted and replaced. The actual shelf life of the vast majority of drugs is much longer - often in the 15-25 year range if stored well.

Then there is the problem of evergreening, this is where the drug companies will extend their monopoly (patent) on a drug by making a slight variation of it. A good example is Nexium, it's predecessor was Prilosec(sp?). Priolsec is actually the better drug but went generic when the patent expired so there was a massive media campaign to promote the "superior" Nexium (that also cost about 10 times as much). Truth is that they shelved 3 studies that said the exact opposite till they got one that reported a slight advantage in esophogeal healing after months of use that lasted about a week...

Countries like Canada get good prices on drugs because they negotiate them with US drug companies and buy in bulk. Same drugs, much lower cost. They can go buy their drugs from India or Europe or... so unlike us, the Drug companies have to negotiate and compete on the price. You used to be able to buy drugs from Canadian Pharmacies but Big Pharma lobbied this out of existence because of "safety" :rolleyes: in reality - if it left the US chain of custody and FDA inspections, regulations, etc. even for a minute - a drug magically becomes "unsafe" in their eyes. Likewise, they have lobbied to ban the US Military from negotiating drug prices.

-t

[Warrior_of_Freedom]

Is it just because they subsidize the drugs? If so, I mean I find it hard for them to be able to afford anything else. We spend more on Medicare/Medicaid than on our Defense budget per year...how can these countries like Austria afford it?? Or are there other causes for this significant price differential? Many times the drugs are half that of the United States...it can't be all subisidization by the governments of those nations...what's the deal...
Because everything in capitalist society is based on profit. In the Soviet Union prescription medicines were easily as cheap as 1 dollar.

[AutoDas]

Because everything in capitalist society is based on profit. In the Soviet Union prescription medicines were easily as cheap as 1 dollar.

The Soviet Union had bread lines. What makes you think they could afford medicine?

[Warrior_of_Freedom]

The Soviet Union had bread lines. What makes you think they could afford medicine?

Your question is irrelevant. I answered why medicine costs so much money here.

[AutoDas]

Your question is irrelevant. I answered why medicine costs so much money here.

You didn't answer my question or the original poster's question. Your answer was the response I'd expect from a pupil enrolled in a government school. "cause capitalism is based on profit" Do you want a star for that?

[nbhadja]

Because everything in capitalist society is based on profit. In the Soviet Union prescription medicines were easily as cheap as 1 dollar.

We have a SOCIALIST MARKET!!!
And the prices are high.
If we had a free market they would be low.

Government is all about profit and power.

Free market= has never failed
socialist market= has always failed

[nbhadja]

Your question is irrelevant. I answered why medicine costs so much money here.

Your answer was irrelavant. We do not have a free market society here.
The big pharm companies lobby the government, and they then eliminate the competition for the big pharm companies.

So your precious communism/socialism fails again.

[Warrior_of_Freedom]

You didn't answer my question or the original poster's question. Your answer was the response I'd expect from a pupil enrolled in a government school. "cause capitalism is based on profit" Do you want a star for that?

sorry let me rephrase it

Capitalism is based on greed.

happy now? :)

[m72mc]

Here in Sweden, the pharmacist has to offer you the cheapest equal medicine as your doctor prescribed. There are always zillions of brands, and the price varies a lot. This basically means everyone almost always get the cheapest one.

[dannno]

sorry let me rephrase it

Capitalism is based on greed.

happy now? :)

No, capitalism is based on the ability to own property and decide what you want to do with it, as long as you don't infringe on others' property rights.

We don't have true "capitalism" here.

Please read Post #16 and then #10 for the correct answer to the OPs question.

[nbhadja]

sorry let me rephrase it

Capitalism is based on greed.

happy now? :)

And government is based on thief, inefficiency, and murder.

You still did not address the fact that we have a socialist economy right now. You think we have a free market economy, it shows that you are clueless.