Pharma Company Breaks Promise To Lower Price Of Expensive, Lifesaving Drug

[soulcougher73]

I noticed Zorkorist cant seem to post more than 2 lines each time. Flaw in the program id assume. Not random enough. Conservabot01 needs an upgrade.

 

[Newell Steamer]

This wouldn't be a problem if poor people didn't spend all their money on drugs, tattoos, abortions, rims, iPhones, cable and video games.

Remember, it's not some asshat capitalist swine gorging and taking advantage of people - it's the people he is munching on that are the problem.

 

[Subyman]

This wouldn't be a problem if poor people didn't spend all their money on drugs, tattoos, abortions, rims, iPhones, cable and video games.

Remember, it's not some asshat capitalist swine gorging and taking advantage of people - it's the people he is munching on that are the problem.

That is quite the hypothetical poor person there.

 

[senseamp]

FDA should take away their exclusivity. This is not a patent drug, there should not be any monopolies on it. And lift ban on importing this. It's pennies overseas.

 

[HeXen]

You want a free market, you got it. Now go buy some pills and stop whining.

 

[Subyman]

You want a free market, you got it. Now go buy some pills and stop whining.

It isn't a free market, and most people other than the completely ignorant do not want a free market.

 

[Strk]

It isn't a free market, and most people other than the completely ignorant do not want a free market.

I think people who want a free one don't realize what some companies would do. I know some want to blame the FDA and such, but one major issue is very few companies even make these drugs. The examples I gave earlier are, well, good examples. Very few companies make some of these generics, so they can charge whatever they want.

 

[Darwin333]

I think people who want a free one don't realize what some companies would do. I know some want to blame the FDA and such, but one major issue is very few companies even make these drugs. The examples I gave earlier are, well, good examples. Very few companies make some of these generics, so they can charge whatever they want.

Not when looked at globally...

I wonder how many other countries in the world companies get away with selling this particular drug for as much as they are charging here in the great US of A?

Those of us that do want a free market want an actual free market like just about every other product we can purchase. I understand that a lot more regulation is required but big pharma companies already import drugs from their over-seas subsidiaries and manufacturers. The people doing the "making" can import drugs but the people doing the buying/selling and consuming can't (legally).

 

[Darwin333]

We've all read stories of companies with new patented "miracle" drugs with astronomical pricing. But the articles claim that the patents for this drug expired many years ago and that there are alternatives. Which I don't understand. and if there are alternatives why should anyone care?

Certain people respond differently to certain very similar drugs. So there is a market share out there that this particular pill is what works for them. It might not be big but I guarantee they did the research to figure out the price increase would greatly increase their profitability. Otherwise they would have just stopped producing and selling it other than take the bad PR they have been.

How can you charge whatever you want for a drug that isn't patented,

When you are the only one making it. It costs a lot of money to start making a drug even that isn't patented.

 

[senseamp]

This drug sells for pennies a pill overseas. This is pure gouging of US consumer and taxpayer.

 

[Darwin333]

This wouldn't be a problem if poor people didn't spend all their money on drugs, tattoos, abortions, rims, iPhones, cable and video games.

Remember, it's not some asshat capitalist swine gorging and taking advantage of people - it's the people he is munching on that are the problem.

What does that have to do with this company jacking up the price of drugs?

Besides, we (the taxpayer) usually pay for poor peoples drugs so you should be even more pissed about crap like this because it costs US more money. Check the Fed budget and see how big of the pie Medicaid and Medicare costs.

 

[bozack]

This drug sells for pennies a pill overseas. This is pure gouging of US consumer and taxpayer.

It sells for "pennies a pill" overseas because of the heavy hand of government regulation with regards to drug prices over there in an effort to sustain their single payer systems.

here we have some regulation for some programs but not for all....

As I said before, someone has to pay for R&D, granted this isn't the most ideal example of that given the price increase is supposedly to invest towards future R&D but still, control costs universally and heavily and these companies will stop looking for new treatments as aggressively as they do now

 

[senseamp]

It sells for "pennies a pill" overseas because of the heavy hand of government regulation with regards to drug prices over there in an effort to sustain their single payer systems.

here we have some regulation for some programs but not for all....

As I said before, someone has to pay for R&D, granted this isn't the most ideal example of that given the price increase is supposedly to invest towards future R&D but still, control costs universally and heavily and these companies will stop looking for new treatments as aggressively as they do now

That's the propaganda big pharma is feeding you while they take the money that could have been your raise and stick it in their pocket. Who do you think pays for these drug prices? Your employer through higher insurance premiums, which come out of your total compensation. And the government which is spending your tax money. And you are cheering the drug companies that are ripping you off. Good job.

It sells for pennies because it's an off patent drug with a lot of competition.
R&D for this drug was paid for long time ago when it was patented. This is an ancient drug. Two owners ago, it was being sold for $1/pill. Then another pharma company bought it and jacked the price up to $13/pill. Then this guy bought it and jacked it up to $750/pill. Now you are just paying to make insane profits for the pharma company that has no interest in R&D. Why come up with new drugs if you can just buy old ones and jack up the price? Last antibiotic was introduced 30 years ago. So much for the fruits of this so called R&D that you are willing to give up your raises for.

 

[Darwin333]

It sells for "pennies a pill" overseas because of the heavy hand of government regulation with regards to drug prices over there in an effort to sustain their single payer systems.

here we have some regulation for some programs but not for all....

As I said before, someone has to pay for R&D, granted this isn't the most ideal example of that given the price increase is supposedly to invest towards future R&D but still, control costs universally and heavily and these companies will stop looking for new treatments as aggressively as they do now

So the US should be the only country to pay the entire globes drug R&D costs? Besides, WTF is the point of R&D on exotic new drugs if you can't even afford the existing old drugs that don't even have a patent on them anymore?

And this particular drug is sold for pennies in other countries because it's an off-patent drug. The R&D and profit for that R&D was paid for long ago.

 

[Subyman]

That's the propaganda big pharma is feeding you while they take the money that could have been your raise and stick it in their pocket. Who do you think pays for these drug prices? Your employer through higher insurance premiums, which come out of your total compensation. And the government which is spending your tax money. And you are cheering the drug companies that are ripping you off. Good job.

It sells for pennies because it's an off patent drug with a lot of competition.
R&D for this drug was paid for long time ago when it was patented. This is an ancient drug. Two owners ago, it was being sold for $1/pill. Then another pharma company bought it and jacked the price up to $13/pill. Then this guy bought it and jacked it up to $750/pill. Now you are just paying to make insane profits for the pharma company that has no interest in R&D. Why come up with new drugs if you can just buy old ones and jack up the price? Last antibiotic was introduced 30 years ago. So much for the fruits of this so called R&D that you are willing to give up your raises for.

This is a good post. The drug market is seeing the same problem as the patent industry. Instead of patent trolls, we now have drug trolls. Non-research entities that gobble up old drugs and raise the price sky high. Instead of strong arming a toll for innovation in the marketplace like patent trolls, they empty the pockets of the unhealthy and contribute nothing in return.

 

[Double Trouble]

full story if anyone cares: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/turing-price-daraprim_565633c6e4b079b2818a31bc




Think we knew this is what would happen all along. Are we still for unfettered pure unabated unchecked capitalism or do we need checks and balances, maybe in the form of democratic socialism?

Since when do we have "pure unabated unchecked capitalism"? This problem is the result of government granted monopolies and regulations, not capitalism.

 

[Subyman]

Since when do we have "pure unabated unchecked capitalism"? This problem is the result of government granted monopolies and regulations, not capitalism.

Oh so the drug market isn't free enough. That is why ancient drugs need to be jacked up 500x their previous value. LOL

 

[bozack]

This is a good post. The drug market is seeing the same problem as the patent industry. Instead of patent trolls, we now have drug trolls. Non-research entities that gobble up old drugs and raise the price sky high. Instead of strong arming a toll for innovation in the marketplace like patent trolls, they empty the pockets of the unhealthy and contribute nothing in return.

wrong, this is an idiotic post, as I said this specific example is not the best given its a long off patent drug and the current company is trying to use the justification that they will be using the money from this to fund future R&D, but the fact of the matter is the discovery phase is long, expensive, very resource intensive, and unfortunately the US is really one of the only markets these companies can look to recoup their costs as well as build up funding to expand R&D in search of the next treatment.

 

[bozack]

So the US should be the only country to pay the entire globes drug R&D costs? Besides, WTF is the point of R&D on exotic new drugs if you can't even afford the existing old drugs that don't even have a patent on them anymore?

And this particular drug is sold for pennies in other countries because it's an off-patent drug. The R&D and profit for that R&D was paid for long ago.

Should it be, I'd say no but unfortunately the reality is that it pretty much is, and ask someone inflicted with an illness that is otherwise untreatable what the point of exotic new drugs are which target their specific ailment, up until recently there were no effective treatment for Hep C, Cystic Fibrosis, and MS

Again, this is not a great example as the company purchased it to jack the price and build revenue to supposedly fund future R&D, but for the other companies that actually develop novel medicines to treat formerly untreatable diseases I have no issue with them turning a profit to recover expenses and fund future R&D.

 

[uclaLabrat]

FDA should take away their exclusivity. This is not a patent drug, there should not be any monopolies on it. And lift ban on importing this. It's pennies overseas.

There aren't any monopolies on it, none whatsoever. But you still have to get your process approved by the FDA to market it, and if you can immediately be undercut on cost, there isn't a good incentive to bring the drug to market because you won't be able to make your money back. That said, the process probably takes at LEAST a year, if not two. So a company that wants to make the drug as a generic will take that long to bring it to market. It's a simple matter of logsistics and FDA approval.

 

[Double Trouble]

Oh so the drug market isn't free enough. That is why ancient drugs need to be jacked up 500x their previous value. LOL

You're confused about my position. Why can the company jack up the rates on an ancient drug like that? They are taking advantage of government regulations and the FDA approval process. Those regulations need to be fixed so these assholes can't do this kind of crap, but blaming those actions on "pure capitalism" is bullshit because there is no pure capitalism in that market.

<edit> It's similar to the cable industry. The cable companies suck, but you can't blame their actions on "capitalism" -- they can take advantage of customers precisely because they have been granted monopolies in their markets by government. Either they need to be regulated like public utilities, or they need to be completely free to compete without being granted monopolies. Not the current bullshit hybrid system where they have a monopoly but they are not regulated like one.

 

[senseamp]

There aren't any monopolies on it, none whatsoever. But you still have to get your process approved by the FDA to market it, and if you can immediately be undercut on cost, there isn't a good incentive to bring the drug to market because you won't be able to make your money back. That said, the process probably takes at LEAST a year, if not two. So a company that wants to make the drug as a generic will take that long to bring it to market. It's a simple matter of logsistics and FDA approval.

FDA grants monopolies on old orphan drugs that go through the FDA approval process. That's what these companies are exploiting.

http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CFR-1999-title21-vol5/xml/CFR-1999-title21-vol5-sec316-31.xml

(a) After approval of a sponsor's marketing application for a designated orphan-drug product for treatment of the rare disease or condition concerning which orphan-drug designation was granted, FDA will not approve another sponsor's marketing application for the same drug before the expiration of 7 years from the date of such approval as stated in the approval letter from FDA, except that such a marketing application can be approved sooner if, and such time as, any of the following occurs:
(1) Withdrawal of exclusive approval or revocation of orphan-drug designation by FDA under any provision of this part; or

(2) Withdrawal for any reason of the marketing application for the drug in question; or

(3) Consent by the holder of exclusive approval to permit another marketing application to gain approval; or
(4) Failure of the holder of exclusive approval to assure a sufficient quantity of the drug under section 527 of the act and § 316.36.
(b) If a sponsor's marketing application for a drug product is determined not to be approvable because approval is barred under section 527 of the act until the expiration of the period of exclusive marketing of another drug product, FDA will so notify the sponsor in writing.

Note that price gouging is not one of causes to lose exclusivity. It should be.

 

[Brainonska511]

...

 

[Ns1]

Capitalism means who gives a shit, another competitor saw the opportunity and is now compounding the same damn drug for $1/pill.

 

[ImpulsE69]

The problem isn't drug companies and the problem isn't government. The problem is much simpler. Human nature. People are greedy self serving f'cks. Many would rape their grandmother if someone told them it would make them rich. That is why there is not an easy fix. Sure, we don't want government controlling everything, but it is clear that left to their own devices, people are assholes and will take advantage of everyone they can in the name of the almighty dollar. Then we're supposed to feel sorry for companies only making 5 billion dollars this year as opposed to 10 billion. I have no sympathy for companies or government. The problem is only getting worse. It is really no different than starting 'christmas' advertising before halloween. It's all about the mighty dollar and making it as fast as they can by any means. The difference is they tend to get away with it, meanwhile there are wars on kids downloading movies on the internet.

Many will read this as anti-capitalism, but it isn't. There's a difference between making a profit and screwing people over to make a profit. Wall Street is one of the biggest issues. You cannot just make a profit anymore, you have to constantly 'improve'. It's never going to get better, there is no solution because there are too many people with their hands in it. The government is just as bad as the companies so don't expect any solution there.