Phil responds:

Trouble is if you allow that, the research and development portions of drug
companies will dry up. No new meds. The drugs that are imported are cheaper
for a whole host of reasons, the big one is the drug companies know they can
get if from the us because we can afford it, most nations can't. It costs
huge bucks to bring a new drug through clinical trials to market. If the
drug company can't recoupe that, they won't bring new drugs into being. Do
you want that?

I don't think anyone is denying a company needs a reasonable level of profit to
advance its R&D and marketing. Drug company profits go beyond that. They are
hog fat and that's after ****ing away tons of money. We keep hearing that they
won' develop as many new drugs if the profit levels are scaled back. Nuts.
That's what they DO! If sales drop off appreciably, they'll come up with new
drugs to maintain the newer profit levels. Maybe what is really needed is some
way to spread the R&D load around the world: why is it possible for me to get,
as an example, Vioxx from a company in New Zealand at a bit over 1/3 the cost
of the U.S. price? Same drug, basically same company. Arrives at my door in 10
days, no charge for shipping. VA doesn't keep it in their pharmacy because of
cost, and I can't afford it at U.S. prices, so I got lucky and found this place
a few years ago.

But there is no desire anywhere to keep the drug companies from recouping their
R&D costs. But once that's done, they've got another 15-16-17 years for the
patent to run at a bloated price to the person who needs the medications.


Your right, my words didn't fit what I meant. It ****es me off, because
we're demanding no costs to use it, insurance should be just that, taking on
risk. The model has changed and the insurance companies know that your going
to spend thousands each year because it doesn't cost the user any extra, so
that becomes the new premium baseline.

Yeah. I can remember BC/BS when I was a kid right out of the Marines. Cost me
maybe 15 bucks a month, but the hospital part didn't kick in until 500 bucks or
so, while the medical had, IIRC, a $50 deductible.

Of course, I was making something like $100 a week then.

Charlie Self
"Don't go around saying the world owes you a living. The world owes you
nothing. It was here first." Mark Twain

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