Today's drug pricing order reportedly aims to match foreign prices - a bold solution to America's pharmaceutical crisis that carries both promise and unintended consequences.
"What's clear is that the medical-industrial complex cannot continue extracting maximum profit at the expense of vulnerable Americans." Absolutely agree with you Tiffany!
So difficult to get this right and not just in the USA but the wider world. How does insurance companies pass on the cost of the drugs to the end user? I am assuming that the insurance companies make vast amounts of money as well. The challenge of having a private healthcare system I guess. Hard to imagine a world where pharmaceutical and insurance companies would take significant drop in profits.
US drug companies did the world a huge favor fast fast-tracking vaccines when Covid-19 hit us like a concrete slab.
Potentially, those vaccines may have saved a billion lives.
This was an incredible effort when new vaccines and testing required 3 to 10 years to be made ready for the public.
Yet those giant pharmaceutical companies make incredible profits in the millions and billions of dollars.
I don't know if the good they did between 2020 and 2023 outweighs their huge profit margins, but saving the world from a virus is about as altruistic as any company ever gets.
But, when ordinary people in the country where those life-saving vaccines were made have to go without food, or halve their mood-controlling medications because they cannot afford them, it is grossly undemocratic, unfair, and unjust.
Americans should pay the least amount for drugs that were designed and manufactured in the USA.
That Americans are subsidizing drugs sent to the rest of the world is ridiculous.
But a perverted system where drug companies freely give out gifts, holidays, and a raft of free stuff to induce Drs and specialists to prescribe more of their drugs is ridiculous too.
Where I live in Australia, I have free health care through Medicare. Last week, I saw my Dr for free in a bulk-billed practice. I got my flu vaccine again for free. Tomorrow, I see her again for a double appointment for free.
I see my rheumatologist on Friday. His fee is $400. But, there is a Medicare rebate of almost $300. I'm only out of pocket around $120.
If anyone needs to have an operation, they go on a wait list that can be 4 or 5 years long, but all hospital costs, all operating costs are completely free if you are in a public hospital. Private hospitals cost much more.
My knee replacement in 2022 cost around $27000. but I only paid $250 because I have private health insurance.
Most medications are subsidised by the Australian Federal Government.
If anybody is poor or unemployed they receive further subsidies with a health care card. Drug payments are capped at $500. Once people have spent that much on needed drugs, all prescriptions are billed at around $10. each.
It's fairer than anywhere else in the world.
Democracy in the USA seems to be all about making money.
Those without money suffer greatly.
In Vietnam, you cannot be admitted to a hospital, and life-saving treatment cannot commence until relatives pitch in to pay for the patient's admission first. Thousands of needy people die outside hospitals unnecessarily, all because they can't afford access to treatment.
When my parents were in their 80s and 90s, they took a raft of prescription drugs, which cost them $5. each.
I have 6 comorbidities, 4 serious respiratory conditions, and two dangerous autoimmune diseases.
I've been told that any infection from now on can kill me.
If it weren't for those big pharmaceutical companies, I wouldn't be writing this now. I owe my life to the innovators, researchers, biochemists, and developers.
In the recent federal election in Australia, the Liberals, one of our two major parties, said they would scrap Medicare, our free-for-all healthcare system.
They lost the election in an incredible landslide to the Labor Party, which leans more to the left.
WHY?
No one wanted to lose our free healthcare.
The leader, Peter Dutton, had policies that mimicked Trump's and supported his presidency and policies early on.
Plus, Dutton wanted to introduce nuclear power.
Even one of those 3 policy items could have cost the Liberals the election, I guess Trump support and axing free healthcare with Medicare, nailed down, buried, and covered their chances in a great pile of dirt.
I hope the President can lower drug costs for the average Joanne or Joe in America.
The country prides itself on freedom, democracy, justice, and the American Way. That is null and void if people cannot afford to buy the drugs they need to survive and live in the United States.
Really great, balanced, informative analysis! Thanks!
Yes, such a balanced, intelligent overview.
"What's clear is that the medical-industrial complex cannot continue extracting maximum profit at the expense of vulnerable Americans." Absolutely agree with you Tiffany!
I mean really if there’s one sentence to pay attention to that’s the kicker!
The drug companies make way too much profit, they need to take a cut and offer affordable medications that those who need them can afford.
So difficult to get this right and not just in the USA but the wider world. How does insurance companies pass on the cost of the drugs to the end user? I am assuming that the insurance companies make vast amounts of money as well. The challenge of having a private healthcare system I guess. Hard to imagine a world where pharmaceutical and insurance companies would take significant drop in profits.
Governments have used drugs to control populations for a long time, learn about it in my podcast here: https://open.substack.com/pub/soberchristiangentlemanpodcast/p/true-drug-history-a-means-of-control?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android&r=31s3eo
US drug companies did the world a huge favor fast fast-tracking vaccines when Covid-19 hit us like a concrete slab.
Potentially, those vaccines may have saved a billion lives.
This was an incredible effort when new vaccines and testing required 3 to 10 years to be made ready for the public.
Yet those giant pharmaceutical companies make incredible profits in the millions and billions of dollars.
I don't know if the good they did between 2020 and 2023 outweighs their huge profit margins, but saving the world from a virus is about as altruistic as any company ever gets.
But, when ordinary people in the country where those life-saving vaccines were made have to go without food, or halve their mood-controlling medications because they cannot afford them, it is grossly undemocratic, unfair, and unjust.
Americans should pay the least amount for drugs that were designed and manufactured in the USA.
That Americans are subsidizing drugs sent to the rest of the world is ridiculous.
But a perverted system where drug companies freely give out gifts, holidays, and a raft of free stuff to induce Drs and specialists to prescribe more of their drugs is ridiculous too.
Where I live in Australia, I have free health care through Medicare. Last week, I saw my Dr for free in a bulk-billed practice. I got my flu vaccine again for free. Tomorrow, I see her again for a double appointment for free.
I see my rheumatologist on Friday. His fee is $400. But, there is a Medicare rebate of almost $300. I'm only out of pocket around $120.
If anyone needs to have an operation, they go on a wait list that can be 4 or 5 years long, but all hospital costs, all operating costs are completely free if you are in a public hospital. Private hospitals cost much more.
My knee replacement in 2022 cost around $27000. but I only paid $250 because I have private health insurance.
Most medications are subsidised by the Australian Federal Government.
If anybody is poor or unemployed they receive further subsidies with a health care card. Drug payments are capped at $500. Once people have spent that much on needed drugs, all prescriptions are billed at around $10. each.
It's fairer than anywhere else in the world.
Democracy in the USA seems to be all about making money.
Those without money suffer greatly.
In Vietnam, you cannot be admitted to a hospital, and life-saving treatment cannot commence until relatives pitch in to pay for the patient's admission first. Thousands of needy people die outside hospitals unnecessarily, all because they can't afford access to treatment.
When my parents were in their 80s and 90s, they took a raft of prescription drugs, which cost them $5. each.
I have 6 comorbidities, 4 serious respiratory conditions, and two dangerous autoimmune diseases.
I've been told that any infection from now on can kill me.
If it weren't for those big pharmaceutical companies, I wouldn't be writing this now. I owe my life to the innovators, researchers, biochemists, and developers.
In the recent federal election in Australia, the Liberals, one of our two major parties, said they would scrap Medicare, our free-for-all healthcare system.
They lost the election in an incredible landslide to the Labor Party, which leans more to the left.
WHY?
No one wanted to lose our free healthcare.
The leader, Peter Dutton, had policies that mimicked Trump's and supported his presidency and policies early on.
Plus, Dutton wanted to introduce nuclear power.
Even one of those 3 policy items could have cost the Liberals the election, I guess Trump support and axing free healthcare with Medicare, nailed down, buried, and covered their chances in a great pile of dirt.
I hope the President can lower drug costs for the average Joanne or Joe in America.
The country prides itself on freedom, democracy, justice, and the American Way. That is null and void if people cannot afford to buy the drugs they need to survive and live in the United States.