Drug Goes From $13.50 a Tablet to $750, Overnight. More increases to come!

originally posted by: Night Star
The cost of so many things even with health insurance is infuriating! My husband who could always afford his diabetes meds all of a sudden hit some donut hole and his prices sky rocketed to outrageous prices until a limit could be met. It took a while to get any kind of help from anywhere.

I swear, more and more people are going to die because of greed!

The health care market has been heavily regulated and subsidized for more than half a century.

The costs have increased and the quality has decreased (dollars for donuts on what should have remained stable services).

Health care isn't immune to economic laws and pretending it is has produced this developing catastrophe.

Most industrialized democracies in the world have socialized, single-payer healthcare systems. Canada, UK, Germany, France, Spain, Italy, ect ...

In these countries, medical coverage is provided by the government.

Does anyone really think that the Canadian government is going to let Glaxo-Smith Cline charge them $20 per aspirin? No, of course not. Governments with socialized coverage would never be able to provide their citizens health care coverage if they paid the same ridiculous prices Americans do.

Drug companies claim that they charge Americans the prices they do to offset their research costs. Bollocks I say. The pharmaceutical companies are deliberately charging American customers sky high prices to keep profit margins in check, as America is not only a large customer-- but a customer where their prices are not regulated.

The American drug market is not restricted because it does not have a state-run healthcare system. It also happens to be one of the wealthiest markets.

Is it any wonder that America doesn't have a socialized healthcare system? The profits for the medical industry would decline, as the government would simply refuse to buy products at these ridiculously inflated prices.

So the industrialized democracies of the world owe America a big thank you for subsidizing the low costs of medical treatment to their citizens.

You're welcome, and perhaps you can chip in for my migraine medication sometime?

Want to fix it?

Single Payer Healthcare.

a reply to: Kali74

So, basically a health care version of the Cloward–Piven Strategy.

The Cloward–Piven strategy is a political strategy outlined in 1966 by American sociologists and political activists Richard Cloward and Frances Fox Piven that called for overloading the U.S. public welfare system in order to precipitate a crisis that would lead to a replacement of the welfare system with a national system of "a guaranteed annual income and thus an end to poverty".

What we have been saying (as have you) the whole time.

originally posted by: Kali74
Want to fix it?

Single Payer Healthcare.

It'll be an uphill battle in America.

Single-payer would introduce fixed prices. The US Gov. would be the one buying these medication. In order for the government to afford to provide these medications, the prices would have to drop drastically. There's simply no way the government can afford medications that cost $500 a pill.

Big pharma and insurance companies donate large sums of money to our elected officials. These medical industry lobbyists will do everything in their power to keep America away from a single-payer system. These companies have bought and paid for political representation and power, and will not allow our representatives to vote yes on single payer healthcare.

We won't see single payer healthcare in America until the money flow from big pharma and the medical industry stops pouring into the pockets of our bought and paid for politicians.

I just noticed a headline at CNBC -- S&P and Nasdaq are dropping into negative territory as biotechs plunge.

I wonder if this has anything to do with it?

originally posted by: Indigent
When i see things like this I wonder if someone found that the anti parasitic drug works to cure cancer or something

If you raise your price too much aren't you creating an opportunity for someone else to compete with you?

There actually is a homeopathic cancer "cure" using a commonly available antiparasitic as one component. Some over-the-counter treatment for worms.

a reply to: MystikMushroom

We'll see. There's fixed prices anyway with shenanigans like this going on. Soon there won't be any competition for any drug, each will be patented and owned by whoever. This is only going to get worse.

They charge these prices because they can, money is king

Feels like since congress passed laws allowing them to ban import to prevent competition and controlling the generic drug markets things have only gotten worse at an alarming rate. Its been going on for a few years now, they did this with heart, cancer and asthma meds over the past few years. Meds that are 100 years old went from 5 bucks to 70 bucks in a matter of a decade, while still being sold for 5 bucks everywhere else on the planet except the US.

It's funny to me how a lot of the people who talk up capitalism fall quiet when drug and healthcare cost rise. In theory, costs in a free market should go down, not up, right? Not necessarily. Supply and demand change. And it could be costs are artificially low. Hey yep I understand capitalism is great when it's a distant symbol of hard work and independent spirit. However, when people start dying because of not having money or not having a job, it's not as easy to keep up the enthusiasm. And When the "free market" results in not enough people joining the military and then a war starts, well you'll throw out all the rules and force people to join. So much for the "free market". It's only great if it works in your favour.

I'm an inbetween-er. I believe capitalism needs regulation, but too much regulation is stifling. People need some freedom, like they need water. In this particular instance, I have no opinion. How do we know that the prices of drugs were in accordance with the free market? Maybe they were artificially low? Maybe there was a subsidy that's now removed? Maybe supply/demand changed? I'm not a black/white kind of thinker. I also think subsidies can be BAD. They're topdown and more bureaucratic.

a reply to: jonnywhite

We don't have a free market in health care.

a reply to: Kali74

Well, the government already does medicaid/medicare -- and the crazy thing is, congress has legally mandated that they can't use their purchasing power to lower prices paid. it's insane.

So it appears that big pharma and the medical industry has the people of America by the throat.

a reply to: jonnywhite

And the thing is, capitalism doesn't work quite the same with medicines and medical treatments.

Healthcare isn't an "optional" purchase for most people. A car, TV, computer -- all of these things people can just refuse to buy if the price is set to high.

Not healthcare. The pharmaceutical companies know you will buy their products, regardless of the prices. Life is more important than any dollar amount. Parents would gladly liquidate their possessions to save their children's lives.

Oh no, make no mistake -- healthcare is one product we all have to buy ... no matter the price.

So, capitalism doesn't work the same way. The supply and demand paradigm is rigged in favor of the medical world. We, the people, will always have demand -- regardless of how high they raise their prices. If a TV went from $500 to $5000, most people would refuse to buy it ... but can you say the same for life saving medication for your child or mother?

Supply and demand quit working when the demand never goes down.

originally posted by: greencmp
a reply to: jonnywhite

We don't have a free market in health care.

You're probably right.

I tried to google something:
www.slate.com - Drug Bust: For 30 years, generic medications helped make health care cheaper. Why is their cost surging?

It turns out we may have put too much faith in the competitive nature of the generic drug sector, and that thanks to a largely invisible group of middlemen, it isn’t nearly the free market that we imagined.

originally posted by: Kali74
Want to fix it?

Single Payer Healthcare.

That alone will not fix it. Actually unless we enforce mandatory posted prices for non-emergency procedures, thus giving the consumer awareness (and apps) to show them what the prices are per provider.

Currently "Because of Insurance", we are paying outrageous prices. Want to know how much a catscan costs? Well, it is very hard to find out unless you are paying cash. The same procedure may cost $150 or $10,000 depending on where you go. Since you don't know the cost, you pay afterwards.

Every restaurant in the United States must have posted pricing... don't you think we should have the same for healthcare?

Want an example... look at Lasik Eye Surgery. The quality goes up every year and the prices go down. Why? because you pay for it and know how much you are being charged. You can shop around, Doctors compete against each other.

Mandatory posted pricing for every non-emergency procedure should be available to the consumer. Not whatever the Clinics or Hospitals charge the insurance companies and you pay the difference after the fact.

Surprise, $3,000 bill for you share of a $150 dollar catscan!

a reply to: infolurker

This is profiteering. Shameless profiteering.

It goes to show the Hippocratic oath is Hypocrisy at times.

a reply to: MystikMushroom

Indeed they have America by the throat. Once upon a time bad corporations were punished by revoking their charters, that was how it was supposed to be, now we just grab our tissue boxes and cry and wring our hands as if there were nothing to be done about it and then pacify ourselves with delusions of if we just work hard enough we can do the same thing and get super rich too... that this is how the free market works. As another poster pointed out this is not a free market. As more and more regulations go by the wayside the more mafia like markets become.

originally posted by: jonnywhite
It's funny to me how a lot of the people who talk up capitalism fall quiet when drug and healthcare cost rise. In theory, costs in a free market should go down, not up, right? Not necessarily. Supply and demand change. And it could be costs are artificially low. Hey yep I understand capitalism is great when it's a distant symbol of hard work and independent spirit. However, when people start dying because of not having money or not having a job, it's not as easy to keep up the enthusiasm. And When the "free market" results in not enough people joining the military and then a war starts, well you'll throw out all the rules and force people to join. So much for the "free market". It's only great if it works in your favour.

I'm an inbetween-er. I believe capitalism needs regulation, but too much regulation is stifling. People need some freedom, like they need water. In this particular instance, I have no opinion. How do we know that the prices of drugs were in accordance with the free market? Maybe they were artificially low? Maybe there was a subsidy that's now removed? Maybe supply/demand changed? I'm not a black/white kind of thinker. I also think subsidies can be BAD. They're topdown and more bureaucratic.

Healthcare prices are out of control because it is nothing resembling a "free market". 75 years of govt regulation have encumbered the market.

The cost of healthcare would go down if insurance was decoupled from the employer (a govt regulation going back to WWII), you could buy insurance plans across state lines, did away with minimum insurance (a la, men needing coverage for pregnancy), etc.

The other thing that needs to change is that insurance needs to be real insurance for catastrophic events, not "health maintenance". Insurance cost a lot because it covers things that people should be paying for out of pocket like physical exams, birth control, etc.

Put another way, think about how much your car insurance would cost you if you could only get it through your current employer and it had to pay for your tire rotation, oil changes, top of up your fluids, and car washes.

If you want to see how a free market drops prices, look at what it cost for elective surgeries like breast implants and other plastic surgery. Prices have fallen dramatically because insurance largely doesn't pay for it so surgeons have to post prices and the actual consumer (patient) is incentivized to shop around. As a result, prices have fallen to affordable levels.

On the other hand, when the consumer is not responsible for paying and there is no price transparency, you get situations like $10 aspirin at hospitals trying to recoup the losses from the uninsured.

I had to pay out of pocket for a medical treatment. It cost me $10k. If the insurance company paid, it was $30k. I have a good friend who is an orthopedic surgeon. I asked him one day what it cost for a hip replacement if someone wanted to pay cash. He had no clue as his practice just billed insurance. This is the problem.

Single payer will not reduce cost as it will just shift the cost burden.

A little more information on the CEO of Turing Pharmaceuticals:

A former hedge fund manager turned pharmaceutical businessman has purchased the rights to a 62-year-old drug used for treating life-threatening parasitic infections and raised the price overnight from $13.50 per tablet to $750.

According to the New York Times, Martin Shkreli, 32, the founder and chief executive of Turing Pharmaceuticals, purchased the rights to Daraprim for $55 million on the same day that Turing announced it had raised $90 million from Shkreli and other investors in its first round of financing.

He started the hedge fund MSMB Capital while in his 20’s and was accused of urging the FDA to not approve certain drugs made by companies whose stock he was shorting. In 2011, Shkreli helped form Retrophin, which also acquired old drugs and immediately raised their prices. Retrophin’s board fired Shkreli a year ago and has filed a complaint in Federal District Court, accusing him of using Retrophin as a personal fund to pay back angry investors in his hedge fund.

source

Just another greedy capitalist!