Re: Sicko

On Nov 10 2007 9:10 AM, Beldin the Sorcerer wrote:

"da pickle" <jcpickels@(nospam)hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:WZqdnaZUQ7au9Kna4p2dnAA@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
<leandercannon@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote

So which part is part true and part error?

"Like any product, the cost of R&D is factored into the unit price."

If the government is "setting" a price, usually the perceived "cost" of
the thing (along with many other "factors" ... like transportation,
storage, overhead ... etc, etc, etc) are attempted to be "factored" into
the "price."

If there is true competition in a market, the almost infinite "factors"
that influence suppliers and consumers and everyone in between, are mashed
together and the influences distributed and the decisions made ... all in
a way that no one could possible predict and ... an agreement is made that
the buyer and seller agree upon to be paid for a unit.

If that "price" allows a profit for the industry that will support
continued production of the unit, it will continue to be produced ... if
the "price" does not allow a specific supplier to continue, that supplier
will either find a way to reduce some expense it is experiencing or it
will leave the market ... if the "price" allows too much "profit" for the
industry, other competitors will enter the market and the supply of the
thing might go down to bring the industry into balance. Of course, this
is a very complicated dance ... one that no one can predict ... one that
no committee can determine. (It is actually much more complicated that
just that, but you seemed to want something simple.)


This is, of course, wrong.
If a drug is manufactured, they have X years of it being under patent
protection in the US to gouge as much as possible, to get back the R&D
costs... then the generic is made available, and the name brand has to
convince people it's better somehow, or try and compete with the generic...
which doesn't have R&D to recoup.

What Pickel SHOULD be pointing out is all the European countries (and
Canada) that refuse to honor US patents unless the manufacturers agree to
sell the drugs to their national health plan for (approximately) 10 cents a
pill over manufacturing costs.

They do this because the alternative is to have their patent protection
denied, and then the locals crank out generic equivilents and (since they
have no R&D to recoup) they undersell the US manufacturers. So they take
their dime, and hose us for the R&D recovery.
We subsidize everyone.

If we had a national drug plan using the same approach, there'd be very
limited R&D, because then NOONE would pay for it.


It isn't competition with drugs. The compounds are the same, they're
commodities. Yes, Walmart can sell it a little cheaper than your local
pharmacy.... you'll spend more on gas driving there.... but the biggest part
of the expense is the discovery of the damn drug to begin with. (Plus all
the misses, of course)

As is the usuall case , mr wizard, you don't know what you are spouting
off about.

Untill you understand what role the NIH ( yes, google is your friend) and
Universitys and Colleges play in the cost of R&D, then you just show
yourself to be the fool we all thought you were.

And do you even know what percentage of their budget a drug manufacturer
spends on R&D?
Did You know that approx. 70% of a drug manufacturers yearly cost is in
the form of MARKETING. Ask your doctor if removing your head from your
ass is right for you.




..

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