Guest Post by Jesse
This is a slide used by Bernie Sanders when he proposed making drug imports from Canada to the US legal.
The proposal was voted down in the Senate 52-46, with a few key Democrats helping overturn Bernie’s proposed legislation.
Among those voting against it was the recipient of big pharma campaign contributions Democratic rising star Cory Booker.
Booker used the Big Pharma talking point that ‘the bill did not include provisions requiring the protections of the FDA.’
Oh really? We think that the Canadian government’s regulation of medicine is weaker than in the US? Please, Cory, tell us exactly where they fall down on the job.
And oh by the way, most it not all of those drugs are the same drugs being sold in the US by the same manufacturers, so the point could be moot. Just allow the imports of drugs the FDA has already approved.
But a real solution, which appears to be far too much for our pampered plutocrats, would be to repeal the US law that prohibits Medicare from negotiating drug prices as is done by the government health services in Canada. But I would not expect the US political establishment to seriously consider overturning that sweet monopoly deal with the drug companies.
Not as long as Big Pharma can keep holding that SG&A level around 45 percent, compared to 25 percent or less of most other industries. There is a lot of money being spent there to motivate doctors and lawmakers in the drug industry.
And then there is the ‘balance billing’ racket where hospitals toss in enormous zingers to your medical bills by using doctors and test labs that are not in your network, for which you get little to no insurance coverage, or insanely high deductibles. And you have no knowledge of their choice in advance.
New York state has passed a ban on this. But most other states have not.
The current US healthcare system is like a protection racket. It is dominated by monopolist behemoths, in the providers and the insurers, and sustained by huge amounts of public relations and their paid functionaries in the media and the Congress.
It is the most expensive healthcare system in the developed nations. And that is largely due to corruption and a twisting of the laws due to the influence of Big Money in lawmaking and regulation.
I think that one of the reasons for our high prices here is that the entire R&D costs of the pharmaceutical companies are being born by the American public, with their foreign pricing based solely on the cost of manufacturing and distributing the drug with no R&D figured in.
There may be regulatory costs involved as well.
Requiring equal pricing to all buyers, public or private, might solve this (it would probably increase foreign prices) but I’m not sure if this would be considered Constitutional or not.
FYI, the pharma companies spend more on marketing than r&d
Trump says drug prices are ‘astronomical’
By Steve Goldstein
Published: Jan 31, 2017 9:48 a.m. ET
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — President Donald Trump on Tuesday said drug prices are “astronomical” as he said he will soon name a nominee to head the Food and Drug Administration. “We’re going to be ending foreign freeloading,” he said ahead of a meeting with the industry, saying that foreign countries should pay their fair share for research-and-development costs.
Trump campaign position # 7 on Healthcare:
Remove barriers to entry into free markets for drug providers that offer safe, reliable and cheaper products. Congress will need the courage to step away from the special interests and do what is right for America. Though the pharmaceutical industry is in the private sector, drug companies provide a public service. Allowing consumers access to imported, safe and dependable drugs from overseas will bring more options to consumers.
https://assets.donaldjtrump.com/HCReformPaper.pdf
Biotech Stocks Slide As Trump Slams “Astronomical Prices”, Tells Drug CEOs To “Get Prices Down”
by Tyler Durden
Jan 31, 2017 9:35 AM
If anyone was wondering what Trump would tell Pharma CEOs in an ad hoc meeting scheduled for 9 am today, here is the answer:
TRUMP TO DRUG CEOS: YOU HAVE TO GET PRICES DOWN
TRUMP ON MEDICARE, MEDICAID WE NEED PRICES WAY DOWN. PRICING HAS BEEN ASTRONOMICAL
TRUMP SAYS NEED TO MAKE DRUG PRODUCTS IN THE US
TRUMP WILL OPPOSE REGS FOR SMALLER COMPANIES
And of secondary importance:
TRUMP: GOING TO ANNOUNCE `FANTASTIC PERSON’ FOR FDA SOON
The result: the Nasdaq biotech index is down -0.7% to open and likely going lower if Trump indeed plans to micromanage pharma P&Ls.
This is somewhat misleading. Canadian drug prices are more complex than this. Some exist on something of a sliding scale depending on the drug, the recipient and their insurance and income status. Others are completely and utterly off the charts in terms of cost and would be completely unaffordable even for the wealthiest among us if it were not for government assistance.
Several years ago an employee of mine was paying $250/month for an inhaler for his wife. Got it from Canada for a fourth of the price.
The cost of treatment for the new Hep-C drug/cure is over 80K, plus the price of the side drugs you must take with it to be effective. The cost of the Hep-C drug in India (where it is produced–and where most drugs are manufactured BTW) is around 3,000 USD.
(Note to anyone reading this–if you have Hep-C, and you need the new drug… it is cheaper to fly to India and purchase it directly from a hospital and come home, than it is to lay out big $$$ in insurance deductibles).
On a personal note–my doctor prescribed Celebrex a few years ago. I asked him for a written prescription, and they told me he would just phone it in to the pharmacy. I told him no–I wanted a written script. And upon handing it to me, I told him that I was going to order it from a Canadian pharmacy–and the guy flipped out in front of me. Why? Because these doctors get clever kick-backs from the drug companies for prescritions filled on these new “designer” drugs you see advertised on TV…. the kick backs are usually “symposiums” in far off places like Tahiti, all hotel and airfair included (for two people), golf course included. And the educational part of these “symposiums” are just an hour (if that) medical presentation where no one in their right minds actually show up.
The cost of the Celebrex at the cheapest Costco pharmacy in the USA was over 700 USD.
The cost of the Celebrex through a Canadian pharmacy was around 80 USD (with free shipping).
To blame high costs on “R and D” here in the states is insane.
Boeing has the same R and D costs, it employs skilled engineers and mathamaticians who are trained in a lenghy process much as doctors and bio-chemists. Boeing’s products also carry the same liability as drug products–actually Boeing’s products have more liability involved with them because just one accident can kill hundreds of people all at once in the air and on the ground.
But does Boeing charge 5 trillion dollars per plane to cover their R and D costs plus their liability?
No.
Only in America can the drug companies charge thousands of percent over their actual costs and rack up massive illicit profits.
R&D costs have to include all the failed research that didn’t produce anything useful, but were a part of overall research that did, or the companies have to go out of business.
R&D expenditures, successful or not, is a part of the total cost of doing business and has to be figured in to overall pricing the same way warehousing, production facilities, and office space does.
True, but that has nothing to do with selling a pill for $5 in Canada and $25 here in the States with a legal prohibition against driving into Ontario, buying it there and bringing it back. Or, on a larger scale a company doing the same (and establishing a track record as a safe purveyor of Canadian-purchased drugs).
take ibuprofen
Research ibuprofen. The side effects are not generally spoken about. Plain old aspirin is safer.
A lot of the drug companies R&D is funded by the USA taxpayers .
https://www.thebalance.com/who-funds-biomedical-research-2663193
Follow the money trail. The following is a well researched article called “Buying Influence – America’s Health Care Business.”
http://viableopposition.blogspot.ca/2017/01/buying-influence-americas-health-care.html
It’s worth a read.
Bob.
Its been long known that the third world poor are used for experiments in the way of free vaccines.What has been outlawed in the US goes to….
Canada?
we have the best government money can buy.
To which Ol’ Muck says “So what’s new?”…….
Big Pharma needs its’ ass kicked right along with the Military, the military suppliers and any other monopolists we can find. Open drug sales across national lines and offer free markets to see who wins. If a company sells a drug that kills someone through negligence, sue ’em and ban them after making sure their hide is peeled off and any victims compensated.
Problems for an international drug market cannot be avoided but one thing that can be avoided is keep the FDA out of it because all they’ll do is insert another dozen rent-seekers in the supply line to drive the price back up.
Rent seekers (all those politicians, middle men, regulators, licensing agencies, permit sellers, EPA’s – state and federal) are there to skim off money from any applicant for anything from putting up a new house, starting a new business (No! You can’t braid hair without a license and 300 hours of training and internship!!!)
or a garage (inspected by building inspectors, electrical inspectors, have to have the drawings rubber stamped by a Professional Engineer (another racketeer))..
Beware middle men and rent-seekers. Buy directly from producers whenever you possibly can and cut them all out of your life – as far as possible.
I don’t use pharmaceuticals, period. Not even aspirin. I use natural medicine. Not to mention diet. Much cheaper and better for you in the long run.
It sends a powerful message and that is “we can’t trust the Canadians”. 😉