comments from Robert Reich:
"Bloomberg reports that a federal inquiry into drug price-fixing is looking at more than a dozen companies and about two dozen drugs. I hope that inquiry expands, and results in real action.
Drug prices in the U.S. are higher than in any other advanced nation, and drugs are the fastest-growing part of the health care bill—which itself is rising at an alarming rate.
This means fat profits that come out of your pocket, both as a consumer and taxpayer. The combined profits of the 10 pharmaceutical companies in the Fortune 500 were over $35.9 billion last year -- more than the profits of all the other 490 businesses in the Fortune 500 put together.
Drug companies say the big profits are necessary to support their research in new drugs. Baloney. They’re spending far more on marketing drugs than on developing them - in some cases twice as much. Besides, profit margins take into account R&D costs.
We must regulate drug prices, like every other advanced nation. And push for a single-payer healthcare system."
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