Pharma Company Breaks Promise To Lower Price Of Expensive, Lifesaving Drug

[Indus]

full story if anyone cares: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/turing-price-daraprim_565633c6e4b079b2818a31bc

Turing Pharmaceuticals is reneging on its promise to cut the cost of the lifesaving drug Daraprim, after buying the rights to the drug in August and raising the price fiftyfold to $750 per per pill from $13.50.

Think we knew this is what would happen all along. Are we still for unfettered pure unabated unchecked capitalism or do we need checks and balances, maybe in the form of democratic socialism?

 

[soulcougher73]

We need vigilantes that kill for justice!!!

 

[Brian Stirling]

They're not the only ones and my guess is they're just hoping another company comes along to take the heat.

And, since other companies have done this and gotten away with it there's no reason to suspect that more companies will play the same game.


Brian

 

[Strk]

They're not the only ones and my guess is they're just hoping another company comes along to take the heat.

And, since other companies have done this and gotten away with it there's no reason to suspect that more companies will play the same game.


Brian

The others who did the 1000%+ hikes did them a little more slowly, so they've avoided the scrutiny

I want to say tetracycline, digoxin and captopril have all seen huge hikes, if I remember correctly. And those three are all pretty old as well. They're also used a lot more, which you'd think would make them get the attention a lot more -- go figure.

 

[Carson Dyle]

I read this story and the thing I took away from it is that there is no current patent on this drug, and there's a very similar drug on the market for 99 cents a pill. So, who is prescribing the $750 per pill drug? And why??

 

[Darwin333]

Think we knew this is what would happen all along. Are we still for unfettered pure unabated unchecked capitalism or do we need checks and balances, maybe in the form of democratic socialism?

We put restrictions on electrical companies so that they can't jack up rates 100% overnight. I see no reason why in cases like this we can't put restrictions on pieces of shit like this. If not that, then allow for importation of drugs. Plenty of countries have very good pharma companies that I'm sure would be willing to make this drug for much less.

 

[Strk]

I read this story and the thing I took away from it is that there is no current patent on this drug, and there's a very similar drug on the market for 99 cents a pill. So, who is prescribing the $750 per pill drug? And why??

The company that did the 99 cent pill did it after the fact. As for who is still prescribing daraprim, who knows?

 

[Carson Dyle]

The company that did the 99 cent pill did it after the fact. As for who is still prescribing daraprim, who knows?

We've all read stories of companies with new patented "miracle" drugs with astronomical pricing. But the articles claim that the patents for this drug expired many years ago and that there are alternatives. Which I don't understand. How can you charge whatever you want for a drug that isn't patented, and if there are alternatives why should anyone care?

 

[Strk]

We've all read stories of companies with new patented "miracle" drugs with astronomical pricing. But the articles claim that the patents for this drug expired many years ago and that there are alternatives. Which I don't understand. How can you charge whatever you want for a drug that isn't patented, and if there are alternatives why should anyone care?

My understanding it that actually getting the drug to market is a little costly and most companies don't want to go through the approval for a low margin drug.

 

[Zorkorist]

You want Government controlling health care, you get shit like this.

Free Market Healthcare, won't stand for it.

-John

 

[Brian Stirling]

It's a small market so getting into it isn't a big money maker unless you can buy up existing patents and production capacity and then raise the price. Because the market is small the odds of another company becoming a competitor is small and that permits the existing company to charge whatever they wish.

I expect that before long EVERY drug that services a small market will see the price go through the roof for just this reason. In fact, I expect this Wall Street scum to buy up other small market drugs and repeating the process.

Huge money is being made in the health care industry and at some point the bubble will burst -- these companies are just trying to get there's while the gettings good!


Brian

 

[Zorkorist]

It's not free market... It's socialized healthcare, and you are right, it is scary bad.

-John

 

[Zorkorist]

They're being swept up into a government that spends trillions of dollars into debt.

Free money?

You mean I can charge $700 for a pill?!

-John

 

[DrDoug]

We've all read stories of companies with new patented "miracle" drugs with astronomical pricing. But the articles claim that the patents for this drug expired many years ago and that there are alternatives. Which I don't understand. How can you charge whatever you want for a drug that isn't patented, and if there are alternatives why should anyone care?

The backstory to this is that he bought up a drug that while the patent was expired, nobody but the original holder was making the drug. Once Greedy McGreedy bought it and upped the price, causing outrage because there was no alternative, a compounding pharmacy stepped in and offered an equivalent for .99 a capsule.

Now you know... :biggrin:

 

[Subyman]

People use the idea that the prices are high so the companies can afford further research for new drugs. But if people can't afford the current drugs on the market, what good are new drugs? A company being able to afford to produce a small market drug seems kind of a bad example. The cost of production of drugs outside of radioactive drugs and naturally extracted drugs (like antivenin) is nearly negligible compared to what the companies spend on advertising and drug reps.

IMO drugs are a public good that should be heavily regulated by government. We are talking about life and death here. It is just as important as water and utilities.

 

[Zorkorist]

No, not even close.

Allowing Government anywhere near health care, disincentives a rational man.

-John

 

[unokitty]

OpenSecrets.org

Since 1999, pharmaceuticals/health products has poured more money annually into lobbying than any other industry, including $229 million last year alone. PhRMA led the group, plowing $16.6 million into helping advance drugmakers’ priorities in Washington...

When Barack Obama was campaigning for president, he promised to resist the drug lobby. But he signed the Affordable Care Act into law in 2010 without provisions allowing re-importation of drugs or giving Medicare the ability to negotiate prices.

In 2009, at the height of the debate in Congress over passing Obamacare, lobbying peaked for drugmakers at $273 million. PhRMA and one of its members, Pfizer Inc, each spent over $25 million to lobby that year.

Running for re-election in 2012, Obama was the biggest individual recipient of pharmaceutical dollars, pulling in $2 million from the industry, which made up one of his top donor bases...

This year, Obama suggested that lawmakers allow Medicare to negotiate down drug prices like the Department of Veterans Affairs does. But Marcia Angell, a senior lecturer at Harvard Medical School and the former editor-in-chief of the New England Journal of Medicine, said the president missed his chance when he was newly elected and Congress was under Democratic control.

“That was the time to act, but he didn’t,” ...

I don't understand all of this talk about 'unfettered capitalism.'

I mean, if capitalism was unfettered, why did the pharmaceutical industry give $2 million dollars to Obama's re-election campaign?

Want lower drug prices?

How many dollars you going to give to the politicians?

Uno

 

[Zorkorist]

Unfettered capitalism, probably means how they spend into debt.

A tool of capitalism, debt.

-John

 

[Sonikku]

but...but... Poor people are greedy...too? lol liberals.

 

[Zorkorist]

Poor People are inevitable.

They should have a chance to succeed. The American Dream.

Government spending into debt, a $15 minimum wage, all serve to cripple poor people, trying to live the American Dream.

-John

 

[CitizenKain]

You want Government controlling health care, you get shit like this.

Free Market Healthcare, won't stand for it.

-John

This is literally what Free Market healthcare creates.

 

[Zorkorist]

Pills that only the Government can afford?

Yea, no.

-John

 

[Zorkorist]

Healthcare is perverted by Government, which spends unlimitedly into debt.

Insurance, Lawyers, the scum of the earth (next to politicians.)

-John

 

[OutHouse]

in the form of democratic socialism?

yea that is the answer to everything.

 

[bozack]

there are two things at work here

1. its not in the media spotlight anymore so what motivation do they have
2. there is an alternative which may be effective on some/most and the rest can pay the higher price