Carter: Cancer is gone

[rexcat]

82. One has to consider...

half the "R&D" cost to get a drug to market is tied up in marketing. The US is the only industrialized country that allows advertising of prescription medication to the public. That was a deal between Newt Gingrich, Speaker of the House, and President Clinton in 1994. I believe that is one of the biggest issues that has driven cost of Rx drugs up but health care costs in the US also contributes to the problem.

Unless we go to a single payer health care system it is going to be difficult to rein in costs of Rx drugs. As long as you have Republicans in charge of the House and Senate I don't think there will much change as far as regulation for pricing of Rx drugs in the US and going to a single payer system. I know in the case of Merck over 60% of clinical trials are conducted in the US. Because of medical cost structuring those clinical trials conducted in the US cost more than what is seen in the rest of the world which also adds to the cost of R&D. It is expensive to get a drug to market but we as consumers are also paying for all of those advertisements and the high cost of medical care in the US. I would love to see the regulations go back to pre-1994 with advertising in the US which was none. That would be a start. Then we can start reforming the health care system here but I believe that is an up hill battle given the current political climate in the US.

As far as Europe, Japan, Australia and some other countries who do regulate the price of drugs they end up not paying their fair share of the R&D costs as it stands now and it ends up in our lap.

It amazes me that people bitch about Rx drug pricing but they have no clue as to what the issues really are and have any real solutions to provide.