For Patients in USA - Drug Prices Are Outrageous, but There Is a Way to Reduce Them - from MedPage Today

[cujoe]

A very thoughtful article that explains the regulatory mechanisms and marketing gimmicks that lead to the high drug prices in the US. As with most posts at MedPage Today, take time to read the comments sections. We should all rue the day that drug companies were allowed to do direct-to-customer advertising in the US, as many now spend more money on that than they do on R&D. The question that should be asked is: "Are high drug prices paying for R&D or for the non-stop advertising on every conceivable form of print and electronic media? Be Well - cujoe

medpagetoday.com/blogs/popl...

[Hidden]

Capitalism ...ain’t it grand.....Big Pharma lobbying Congress to its own rewards . Nothing new under the sun.. Take care cujoe Thanks

[mcp1941 in reply to Hidden]

Lobbying? I call it bribing.

[Hidden in reply to mcp1941]

Bribery works , it’s the America’s way. .. “ There is no inherently Native American crimial class except Congress” Mark Twain ..

[NPfisherman]

Thanks for posting cujoe... if it were for R&D, well that's ok....but for marketing reps to push the drugs and more profits to make shareholders happy... different answer...

Fish

[teamkv]

Thank you for sharing Cujoe. This is so DISGUSTING AND IMMORAL. A nation of barbarians. Ugh. Food quality is better in other countries as well. Monsanto, genetic modification etc etc. Follow the money trail. Couple that with how distracted everyone is with meaningless causes and agenda driven education governed by the thought police... 😔

What willl happen when ‘Rome’ falls...

Overwhelming to navigate, especially when you don’t feel so well. It’s a war we are in brothers and sisters, with more than one enemy.

[cujoe]

Here is a perfect example of how honorable drug companies are when profits are concerned:

Lucentis Vs. Avastin: A Macular Degeneration Treatment Controversy

allaboutvision.com/conditio...

Free market capitalism, mon oeuil!

Be Well - cujoe

[Polly092750]

Try Canada or India.

[LeeLiam]

R & D costs? It doesn't matter. Advertising spend? Who cares. Cost to manufacture? Irrelevant. The only thing that forces a business to charge the lowest price for it's product or service is ..... COMPETITION!! Our government helps to limit competition and the drug companies take full advantage of it. The governments in Canada, India and Costa Rica don't limit the competition. See what happens. Americans are chumps. Same is true with health insurance. Why is it an automobile insurance company or a home owner's insurance company can sell their products in all 50 states but not health insurance? We need to put some limits on our government. Capitalism works well if it's unencumbered.

[Hidden in reply to LeeLiam]

Viagra 100mg tablets are how much in this country (and prescription only of course) -- $25, $35, $40 each? I get a viagra knockoff (Silagra) from India. 32 pills for less than $100 and no prescription, no doctor visit needed. Ask me if I feel bad about this.

[monte1111 in reply to Hidden]

Viagra is not cheap. I am happy you have a use for it. Reminds me -- I need to pick up some carrots today.

[Hidden in reply to monte1111]

Hahaha

[Hidden in reply to LeeLiam]

Why can't Medicare negotiate drug costs? Because a corrupt Congress has been bought and paid for by company lobbyists.

[Hidden]

A number of years ago I heard about the pension package (parting gift?) for the Pfizer CEO. $80 million dollars. As if he hadn't already reaped 10's of millions each year from the company. What possible justification for that package. Just the good-ole-boy greed club at work.

[Hidden]

There are seven American pharmaceutical companies now in the news for selling their “ American made” drugs at inflated prices to us citizens while greatly discounting these same drugs to other industrialized countries ...

[j-o-h-n]

What is Profit?

Profit is a financial benefit that is realized when the amount of revenue gained from a business activity exceeds the expenses, costs and taxes needed to sustain the activity. Any profit that is gained goes to the business's owners, who may or may not decide to spend it on the business. Profit is calculated as total revenue less total expenses.

What is Capitalism?

Capitalism is an economic system. In it the government plays a secondary role. People and companies make most of the decisions, and own most of the property. ... The means of production are largely or entirely privately owned (by individuals or companies) and operated for profit.

What is Socialism?

Socialism is an economic system where the ways of making a living (factories, offices, etc.) are owned by a society as a whole, meaning the value made belongs to everyone in that society, instead of a group of private owners.

What is Communism?

Communism is an ideological and a social political movement. Its aim is to set up a communist society. This society would be based on the common ownership of the means of production and would lack social classes, money, and a state.

youtube.com/watch?v=GXE_n2q...(Not working as expected?)

Good Luck, Good Health and Good Humor.

j-o-h-n Wednesday 02/27/2019 9:51 PM EST

[Hidden in reply to j-o-h-n]

And everyone knows what greed is when they see it. Can capitalism include ethics? Please?

[cujoe in reply to j-o-h-n]

So, j-o-h-n, Please help poor old dumb me . . . under which of these systems do 3 individual billionaires end up with more wealth than the bottom 160 million citizens in the country?? Be Well & Keep Smilin' - cujoe

[j-o-h-n in reply to cujoe]

My guest would be number 3, i.e. North Korea?

Do I win first prize "one week in Newark N.J.?" -or- second prize "two weeks in Newark N.J.?

Good Luck, Good Health and Good Humor.

j-o-h-n Thursday 02/28/2019 5:32 PM EST

[cujoe in reply to j-o-h-n]

Well, So Sorry j-o-h-n, You did not win either first or second prizes, but you have been awarded a consolation prize for you efforts: One MONTH in nearby Bayonne, birthplace of Sandra Dee, Barney Frank, and Shaquille O'Neal. Free tickets to the Bayonne Truck House No. 1 Fireman's Museum are included. See You There.

Give Me A Big Smile For The Press Release & Be Well - cujoe

[j-o-h-n in reply to cujoe]

Been to Bayonne once, spent a week there one day.

BTW The Fireman's museum burned down (arson they believe). They're holding 3 suspects for questioning, Sandra Dee, Barney Frank and Shaquille O'neal. They think they're a ring called the Bayonne Bireman... Bayonnites were not known for their spelling either.

*** G I G A N T I C S M I L E ***

😀😀😀😀😀😀😀😀😀😀😀

Be well too.

Good Luck, Good Health and Good Humor.

j-o-h-n Thursday 02/28/2019 11:00 PM EST

[j-o-h-n]

I don't discuss politics, religion and calculus... Just humor

Good Luck, Good Health and Good Humor.

j-o-h-n Wednesday 02/27/2019 10:48 PM EST

[monte1111]

The stigma attached to calculus is well deserved.

[j-o-h-n]

Did you mean sigma Σ n = SUM?

Good Luck, Good Health and Good Humor.

j-o-h-n Thursday 02/28/2019 11:05 PM EST