Don Surber, today:
ITEM 1: The New York Times reported, “At a time when germs are growing more resistant to common antibiotics, many companies that are developing new versions of the drugs are hemorrhaging money and going out of business, gravely undermining efforts to contain the spread of deadly, drug-resistant bacteria.”
Suing Big Pharma has consequences.
The story said, “The grim financial outlook for the few companies still committed to antibiotic research is driving away investors and threatening to strangle the development of new lifesaving drugs at a time when they are urgently needed.”
But it goes beyond suing Big Pharma, according to the Times.
The story said, “The problem is straightforward: The companies that have invested billions to develop the drugs have not found a way to make money selling them. Most antibiotics are prescribed for just days or weeks — unlike medicines for chronic conditions like diabetes or rheumatoid arthritis that have been blockbusters — and many hospitals have been unwilling to pay high prices for the new therapies. Political gridlock in Congress has thwarted legislative efforts to address the problem.”
Research in capitalism follows the market. Research in government follows the politics. If we stopped chasing windmills battling an imaginary problem, we could have the resources to battle this one.
I have my doubts on that point. Congress might have the time if they stopped chasing impeachment, (which isn’t going to go anywhere) but they wouldn’t have the will.
And therein lies the key, I think. Do we really want government Healthcare, where your health and well-being is driven by the politics of the moment and whoever happens to be in political power? That’s really what the Democrats are proposing, you know. That’s what single payer is.
I will say this again: the only way to lower prescription drug costs is to get government out of the picture entirely.
December 27th, 2019 at 14:33
BULLSHIRT- another puff piece written by a J School idiot too dumb to become a school teacher.
The problem of drug resistant superbugs has been known for 15 years, and US manufacturers have chosen to devote little more than lip service to research.
Asinine Court Verdicts have driven drug research out of the US along with the cost of approval of any new drug. Add in the cute moves of repatenting the same drug in a different color pill, and lets not forget drug execs moving in and out of government employment.
The research is going on to the degree possible in places like Israel and Japan,and when new drugs become available the US will be 3 years behind adopting them because of costs unless we see a repeat of the Ronnie RayGun blockade over AIDS drugs.
Hospitals & Insurance carriers operate on formularies largely to prevent Doctors from jumping to the latest and greatest the Detail Man puffed at the last free dinner. Hell, Doctors don’t even write Scrips any more, the computer gives them options on formulary and they pick from the list. The patient damn well needs to do some homework to protect himself from Dr Zealous.
Eric says:
research is going on in Israel because they don’t have an overbearing government within the healthcare industry as we do here in the states. They also don’t have nearly the lawsuits going on over there that we do here.
other countries are ahead of us and drug development for the same reason. Government. The history of governmental intervention, in everything they have ever touched, is one of unintended consequences.
did drug companies make a profit? Of course. But then again, that’s why they’re in business in the first place.
See also, Adam Smith.