A Constant Stream of Expensive Drugs

(OMNS, Nov 16, 2015) It would be novel indeed to see a news media report entitled "Life- Saving Vitamins." That's a headline about vitamins that would be true for once.

Instead, I see folks on TV speaking about those drugs they so desperately "need" while they plead with drug companies to just make them more affordable. "It's tough when it comes to medical stuff costing so much because you can't say no to medication," says one patient who seeks an expensive drug to help lower his high cholesterol.

Take comfort, consumer. NBC is on it. On Wednesday, November 4th, 2015, they presented a news bit ominously entitled "Your Money or Your Life." NBC asked Leonard Schleifer, MD, CEO of Regeneron: "Why do the same medications cost so much more here than in other countries?"

After all, NBC pointed out that drugs cost twice as much in the United States then they do in Canada, the United Kingdom, or Australia. And they noted that Regeneron's new drug Praluent is particularly costly.

Dr. Schleifer justified the price tag on his company's expensive new drug because of the high cost of the product's development. "Do we want cheap drugs now, and no drugs in the future?" he asks. "Or more expensive drugs now, and a constant stream of drugs?"

Ah, yes.

This pharmaceutical CEO would have us enjoy an endless stream of expensive drugs. Of course he would. For many people who take cholesterol-lowering drugs every day, a constant supply is exactly what they end up paying for.

The pharmaceutical industry is "primarily a marketing machine to sell drugs of dubious benefit," says Marcia Angell, MD, a senior lecturer at Harvard Medical School and former editor in chief of the New England Journal of Medicine.

In her book bestselling book, The Truth About the Drug Companies, she says that the supposedly high cost of research and development has very little to do with how high they price their products. Basically, drug companies charge what they think they can get. And while you will hear it claimed otherwise, far more is spent on marketing than on research and development.

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