tangent4ronpaul
01-12-2011, 09:35 AM
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wal-Mart
In September 2006, Wal-Mart announced a pilot program to sell generic drugs at just $4 per prescription. The pilot program was launched at stores in the Tampa, Florida area, and expanded to all stores in Florida by January 2007. While the average price of generics is $29 per prescription, compared to $102 for name-brand drugs, Wal-Mart maintains that it is not selling at a loss, or providing as an act of charity – instead, they are using the same mechanisms of mass distribution that it uses to bring lower prices to other products.[44] While it's little known outside of the drug industry, many of Walmart’s low cost generics are imported from India and made by drug makers in that country including Ranbaxy and CIPLA.[45]
[44] http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6119292
[45] http://www.business-standard.com/india/storypage.php?autono=326184
Buying like clinics do (in bulk) makes even these prices seem expensive, but it's hard (not impossible) to find docs that will Rx you a bottle of 100-500 pills/caps.
A drug under patent will always be more expensive than a generic.
A Rx drug will always be more expensive than an OTC one.
Prior to the early 1960's, drug companies did enough testing so they were comfortable that they would not get sued. Development time was about 2 years and cost was tens of thousands of dollars. Today it's over a decade, and costs between 750 Million and 1.2 Billion. As the stakes are so high, it's also introduced corruption as a stack of negative reports of testing will get buried in favor of one that shows a slight advantage and university professors doing testing have been caught lying in reports and outright fabricating data.
This also means that fewer drugs are discovered as research funding is limited (though drug companies do spend $2 in advertising for every $1 on R&D) so people die waiting for a drug to be found for their condition. If the population that would benefit from a new drug is small or poor, a drug will be buried as the profit/development cost ratio is negative.
What really drives up prices can be described in 6 letters: FDA/DEA
The only way the out of control costs of our medical system can be brought under control is by eliminating these two agencies. Governments never admit fault or give up control unless they are forced to or overthrown.
-t
In September 2006, Wal-Mart announced a pilot program to sell generic drugs at just $4 per prescription. The pilot program was launched at stores in the Tampa, Florida area, and expanded to all stores in Florida by January 2007. While the average price of generics is $29 per prescription, compared to $102 for name-brand drugs, Wal-Mart maintains that it is not selling at a loss, or providing as an act of charity – instead, they are using the same mechanisms of mass distribution that it uses to bring lower prices to other products.[44] While it's little known outside of the drug industry, many of Walmart’s low cost generics are imported from India and made by drug makers in that country including Ranbaxy and CIPLA.[45]
[44] http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6119292
[45] http://www.business-standard.com/india/storypage.php?autono=326184
Buying like clinics do (in bulk) makes even these prices seem expensive, but it's hard (not impossible) to find docs that will Rx you a bottle of 100-500 pills/caps.
A drug under patent will always be more expensive than a generic.
A Rx drug will always be more expensive than an OTC one.
Prior to the early 1960's, drug companies did enough testing so they were comfortable that they would not get sued. Development time was about 2 years and cost was tens of thousands of dollars. Today it's over a decade, and costs between 750 Million and 1.2 Billion. As the stakes are so high, it's also introduced corruption as a stack of negative reports of testing will get buried in favor of one that shows a slight advantage and university professors doing testing have been caught lying in reports and outright fabricating data.
This also means that fewer drugs are discovered as research funding is limited (though drug companies do spend $2 in advertising for every $1 on R&D) so people die waiting for a drug to be found for their condition. If the population that would benefit from a new drug is small or poor, a drug will be buried as the profit/development cost ratio is negative.
What really drives up prices can be described in 6 letters: FDA/DEA
The only way the out of control costs of our medical system can be brought under control is by eliminating these two agencies. Governments never admit fault or give up control unless they are forced to or overthrown.
-t