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

[AmyStrange]

60. Is Bloomberg a legitimate source here?

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this is what I found:

Drug Prices
By Robert Langreth
Updated on February 5, 2019, 7:39 AM PST

Americans spend more on prescription drugs — average costs are about $1,200 per person per year — than anyone else in the world. It’s true that they take a lot of pills. But what really sets the U.S. apart from most other countries is high prices. Cancer drugs in the U.S. routinely cost $10,000 a month. Even prices for old drugs have spiked, as companies have bought up medicines that face no competition and boosted charges. While private insurers and government programs pick up the biggest share of the bill, high drug costs are ultimately passed on to the public through premiums and taxes. More than half of Americans in one poll said that bringing down drug prices should be a top priority of the federal government. President Donald Trump has vowed to do just that.

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The Argument

Pharmaceutical companies argue that they need robust profits to bankroll the development of medical advances and that restricting prices would harm innovation. They highlight the benefits of medicines such as Sovaldi, which has a cure rate superior to treatments that cost nearly as much. Critics point to the industry’s fat profit margins and say companies exaggerate drug-development costs. Doctors and insurance executives worry that many medicines are rapidly becoming unaffordable. Advocates of greater price regulation argue that it needn’t hamper innovation. They say drugmakers could reduce spending on marketing and cite an analysis that found promotional budgets exceed those for research and development at most big companies.

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Source: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development

READ THE REST HERE:

https://www.bloomberg.com/quicktake/drug-prices#:~:text=Americans%20spend%20more%20on%20prescription%20drugs%20%E2%80%94%20average,in%20the%20U.S.%20routinely%20cost%20%2410%2C000%20a%20month.
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