Who here thinks drug companies (pharmaceuticals) are altruistic...

[unitedwethrive]

10. They are exactly what is expected from a capitalistic society.

Pharmaceutical companies are doing what every corporation does, trying to make a profit to reward their executives, their stock holders and to a smaller extent, their employees. If the product of the company helps people, that is a side effect that may help them in marketing and employment, but no one should expect them to be altruistic.

Keep in mind how expensive it is to do pharmaceutical research, and that most researchers are highly educated scientists who are being paid in accordance to the time, effort, and money spent to achieve their education. The equipment, supplies, chemicals, etc. are very expensive and constantly need updating. This is in addition to usual corporate needs such as patent attorneys, sales people, and ancillary personnel who keep the company running and product distributed.

Most of the reason that the vast majority of medical treatments have been discovered in the US is because of the profit motive. Socialized countries just don't have the incentive to attract top researchers, and spend the kind of money required to make major breakthroughs, no matter how much they want to be altruistic.

The more socially-aware pharmaceutical companies will reduce the cost of a given medication once their research costs are recovered, which often takes several years since most are targeted towards specific diseases that are not widespread.

The only way to change this structure is for the government to allocate more funds towards medical research and drug development.