re: #396 Aceofwhat?

While you’re at it, why don’t you rag on the regulatory process that is more disliked by physicians than the new HCR bill, adding unnecessary millions to the cost of the development of drugs?

And by the way, “lower costs” of drugs through centralized purchasing is no panacea. Other countries get the illusion of lower costs through centralized purchasing because the drug companies charge us more…how ‘bout regulations against selling drugs for less to foreign citizens than they do to American citizens, as long as you’re on a regulatory tear?

Or am i ruining the partisan streak that you’re on?

I am advocating for improved health care and a superior system. This is not a partisan issue, and it has nothing to do with party lines. The Republican proposals of tort reform and allowing health insurance competition are good ones. They should be done. However, those ideas don’t do a whole lot to reduce health care costs, and do nothing to expand health coverage. Therefore they cannot be the end of health care reform.

The regulatory process is a Byzantine one, and should be streamlined. However, it’s a tough call to make, because in theory at least, any reduction in quality control and product testing has a risk, even if vanishingly small, of allowing an unsafe product through. And when you’re talking about drugs, the consequences of that are very serious indeed. I don’t know the exact answer there - however, I am sure there is a way to streamline the process that does not compromise public safety. I know from speaking to those who do this kind of thing that they prefer the European model for testing drugs - apparently it is a more efficient and less hidebound version.

And yes, other countries pay less for drugs through their national pharmacies, and Big Pharma then screws the US market with higher prices. They do it because they can. And this avenue should be closed to them. The US is by far their most lucrative market, and not because of the usurious prices they’re allowed to charge - because it’s the largest customer pool with the highest standard of living, and thus the best market for drugs.

If the US created a national pharmacy (and people who do this sort of thing tell me that such a thing will occur, inevitably, in the next decade or so), it would be a serious blow to pharmaceutical company profits. That’s too bad. I have no sympathy for Big Pharma. Their business practices are, quite frankly, evil. They aren’t going to go out of business by having to slash their marketing budget. They aren’t going to suddenly stop researching new drugs, because frankly they don’t do that now. They aren’t going to stop producing cheap drugs that benefit the majority of the public, because frankly they don’t do that now either. But there will still be profits to be made in pharmaceuticals. Pharmaceuticals will not end overnight if the US cash cow is cut off. And the citizens of America will be the better off for it.