LittleRed

One must remember that one reason that these two countries are in any crisis is due in part to the glorious "sanctions" placed on them by the good old USA.

LittleRed (Ron)

Rathyatra Loc: Southport, United Kingdom

wds0410 Loc: Nunya

Good for you.

bodiebill

Very well said "robertjerl"
Oversimplification is easy and generally provides the wrong answers.
I was on the board of a medical device company developing a "breathing/G suit system" for emergency heart attack victims. It was a computerized breathing and auxiliary blood flow system through the use of the G-suit.
We worked with some Russian scientists who had the G-suit knowledge.
Initial testing was done in Russia where there no lawyers involved. It was tested on patients who were officially fatally ill with little hope of survival.
When we began the USA 'FDA approval process' it nearly bankrupted the startup business with great delay in bringing it to market. The bureaucracy was incredible.
The concept system worked well and was ultimately approved for EMT use.

Is the FDA system superior to those in other countries? Yes and No.
It needs more streamlined with equivalent protection to the patient, but with less delay and bureaucratic entanglement.
All of those costs must be recovered in the market place.
The UK has a worthwhile law that holds the litigant (suing individual) responsible for legal costs in the advent the litigant loses. This diminishes frivolous lawsuits. Barristers (lawyers) do not advirtise on TV in the UK.
Lawyers fees are one of the exorbitant costs in our system. Just ask your Doctor about legal insurance fees.
Yes there is some greed in many facets of business, but real costs need to be recovered.
Try Venezuela for "ideal socialism". No medicine or food available.
Canada does not have the research and development costs as USA Big Pharma in the creation of new drugs.
Homeopathic treatment work on non critical illness, but do not cure the more deadly mutating diseases.
Remember the iron lung? Then Jonas Salk developed the v*****e.

Scruples Loc: Brooklyn, New York

Folks: Before we start blaming one industry for having rampant prices on its products, we need to look very carefully at other industries in the United States. Let's start with housing. The cost of real estate has gone up. Then let's look at automobiles. The cost of cars has gone up. Look at the cost of computers. Holy C&#%P, they can do so much more than they did years ago. But expect to buy a new one every few years. They aren't cheap either. Has anyone gone to the doctor lately. Expect to pay a boatload of money if you don't have great insurance. Is there even such a thing? What about lawyers? I don't hear anyone complaining why lawyers charge so much? What about dog food and dog care. These little furry beasts cost an arm and a leg. Or should I saw more that two pairs of paws?
Since, this is a photography forum, let me write that when I bought my Pentax K-1000 in 1976 it was a whopping $100. Now look at cameras. They aren't so cheap. My Canon 5D Mark IV was over $2000 and in a bundle. People pick on "greedy" Pharma because they don't understand the cost that goes into continually bringing medications to market. That little white pill was being researched for years. Now when it is approved by the FDA the company must rec**p their expenditures. That's millions of dollars spent on research. Years ago, Pharmaceutical companies would give away free stuff to doctors such as pens and clocks. The FDA felt it was an unfair tactic. They did away with that.
I know a few people taking expensive drugs. They have complained to me! Here is how it can be affordable. The pharmaceutical manufacturer offers their drugs for free or a nominal cost. The doctor or pharmacist MUST contact the company and apply for the medication under indigent programs (patient assistance programs) offered. Does the doctor make the effort? NO! Does the pharmacist make the effort? NO! It is time for a change, people! Demand it now!!!!! You don't want to pay a boatload for medication. Why should you? You may be able to get the medication at a reduced cost or free. Just tell the doctor that you can't afford their bill! You will hear their jaw hit the floor. I guarantee it! I have found some websites but ask the doctor how much does the medication cost? Go into a pharmacy to have your prescription filled. Then you learn the price. There are a few websites. I have included some: www.rxassistantprograms.com
www.rxassist.org
www.needymeds.org
www.patienthelpnetwork.org
And plenty of others too!

Patients don't pay $1000 per pill. Patients you don't have to pay $1000 for that injection. You don't have to pay through the nose and out the A¥€SS for that medication. If your proactive with your photography, then be proactive with your health and medications.
I can be Private Messaged too.
(I expect my email box to explode!)
I hope I woke up some sleepy people.

Bob Smith Loc: Banjarmasin

Oh yes! I paid into the National Insurance scheme which is compulsorily for everyone. It was stopped from my wages at the source and I pay nothing for drugs because I am over 60. If I was under 60 it would cost me £8.60 per prescription. A couple of years ago I had an accident where I lost two fingers, to sew them back on and the physiotherapy to get them working again cost £0.

TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

I agree with your point that patients need to take more responsibility for their own health and do the same research they’d do when buying a new lens the next time they fill a prescription.

Cases in point.

I take a generic medicine daily. It’s an old med - been around for 30-40 years, generics made by lots of companies. Recently, my Medicare Advantage program dropped it from their formulary (they will not pay for the drug). The cost to me at my local Walgreens was $119/month if I paid privately. Instead, I purchased from Blink Health online with a credit card for $10.48 (!), and then went to Walgreens and picked it up. Exactly the same drug from the same manufacturer and same drugstore, just a different payment method. Blink Health (and others like GoodRX) are for-profit companies so no subsidy from pharma or government and they’re actually making a profit even at less than 10% of the retail cost. I asked my pharmacist to explain the difference in cost, but he was unable to, pointing me to the intermediary that the drugstore uses to process payments/benefits. I tried researching that out of curiosity, but the pathway of the drug’s cost from the manufacturer through the intermediary to the drugstore to the patient is as complicated as any federal bureaucracy. Perhaps a reader who is familiar with the industry can explain.

My wife also takes a drug whose cost is $469 per month if purchased retail, and the name brand is not covered by the formulary, although the generic is. We have found the generic to be much less effective. Upon research, we found that the generic, sold in the US, by name-brand pharmacies, is imported from India. More disturbing, (but not surprising), a quick search of the FDA database showed dozens of violations for the company - everything from non-sterile conditions to incorrect formulation. A call to P****r, the US manufacturer, developer and producer of the name-brand, turned up a program that allowed us to purchase the drug from our regular pharmacy for $30/month even though we have a Medicare advantage plan, and there were ZERO financial qualifications (it was not a needs-based program).

The point(s) being that as the writer notes, there are many pathways to save $ on prescription drugs, but you have to do the research and become informed - it’s a jungle out there.

biry

Amen brother!!!
Bill

alberio Loc: Casa Grande AZ

I dislike the big pharmaceutical industry for their marketing practices as much as anyone, but I think the numbers in the post are wrong.
Correct me if I'm wrong.

StanMac Loc: Tennessee

The need to recover the R&D costs is a valid issue. But there is no t***sparency on what those costs are for a given drug. And once the costs have been recovered on a specific drug, there is no price adjustment downward to recover costs and a reasonable profit - the price may even increase, especially on life saving drugs like cancer treatments or, in the case of insulin, high demand due to the increasing incidence of diabetes. Big pharmacy would have us believe that the production of these drugs is done in a small batch process that has huge costs involved. Fact is, drug production has to be a high volume, highly mechanized low cost production process to met the demand for millions of doses annually. At the number of doses most high cost drugs are used, I’d venture to say R&D costs are fully recovered in a year, certainly less than two years.

There are also predatory pricing motives in the retail pharmacy business. My dog was prescribed insulin by his vet. I filled the first prescription at a Walgreens. They knew the script was for my pet and charged me over $140 for a months supply. That’s a big expense on my budget, so I inquired with Walmart about their price prior to filling the next months supply. At Walmart I paid less than $30 for the exact same product. The insulin with syringes was less than 25% what the big pharmacy chains would charge. Now I’m no Walmart fan due to their employment practices, but in this case their policy is in the right place. I am sure they aren’t losing any money on insulin sales either.

Stan

Cykdelic Loc: Now outside of Chiraq & Santa Fe, NM

Most do not understand how costs, and pricing, of medicines work. Your comment on Medicare/Medicaid being allowed to negotiate prices would be an excellent start, by the way.

On pricing, the pricing in the U.S. becomes somewhat of a “plug” in that the costs to bring a Medici e to market are extraordinarily high..... the pharmas negotiate with other countries, they project sales in those countries, and the U.S. price is kinda backed into so the companies can recover all costs and profit margins (which includes failed drugs).

Yes, the consumer is left holding the bag because our elected morons will not allow, by law, Medicare to negotiate pricing! Note that Medicare is the largest purchaser of drugs in the word! If I recall, the current president has called for a plan to develop negotiating powers for Medicare, but that will ultimately depend on the congress.

Now, as to greed...... depends on your view of greed.

Using Merck as an example, their five year average ROS is about 11%, which is about half that of the greedy darling Apple, 40% less than Google, etc.

Of course, people are in love with their cute little phones and I-net surfing so they have been brainwashed to admire those companies at all costs.

markngolf Loc: Bridgewater, NJ

Good points, Chris. I needed a prescription of Rapaflo filled. It was sent to my local pharmacy. 1 month's supply = $31. I had the Dr's office send it in to my online plan. The generic was $5.00 for a 3 month supply. That's a decrease of more than 1800%.
Mark

PhotoPhred Loc: Cheyney, Pa

I have an inhaler that costs 1345.00 for a 30 day supply. I get a 90 day supply from Canada for 310.00. Under the current political environment large corporations are free to run roughshod over the working people who are the backbone of America.

pendennis

The reason why Canadian meds are cheaper than in the U.S., is because Canadian law forbids U.S. drug companies from recovering developmental and research costs. They only allow actual current production costs plus markup. And Canada's not the only one. Great Britain and a number of European countries have similar laws.

Guess who picks up the slack in cost recovery?

If you want cheaper drugs, then U.S. trade policy will have to be changed.

Shel Loc: Lecanto FL

Facts and logic will not stop some from attacking "socialized medicine". Medicare and medicaid are forms of "socialized medicine" that help millions in this country.