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Originally Posted by GMIJFI
Think of all the advertising for drugs you see on your local TV area and then multiply this across all TV markets in the country. Guess who gets that cost passed on to them.
What I don't understand is why the insurance lobby (who must be as powerful as the drug lobby) isn't fighting this outrageous pricing by the drug companies. Educate me, someone!
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Insurance companies have made a little dent in cost via a tricky maneuver a few years ago. At that time there were no non-sedating antihistamines available OTC as Claritin, Zyrtec, and Allegra were Rx only.
CLARITIN TO SELL OVER THE COUNTER - NYTimes.com
Wellpoint, a huge California insurer petitioned the FDA to make Claritin OTC which they did in 2002 over the objections of the manufacturer. Of course the insurance companies don't cover OTC meds and this saved them big $$ while transferring the whole OTC cost to the consumer. Once generics became available a year later then the price plummeted. There is nothing an insurance company can do to control a pharmaceutical price. They can make it non-formulary or tier 3 but then there needs to be a very similar drug at a lower cost for the preferred list. There are huge profits with a blockbuster drug and to some extend that potential windfall is what encourages the corporations to invest in research and development. Profit to the stockholders is the goal (and of course the CEO).
An alternative would be if the US Government would invest in the research directly or via universities and the public hold the rights to any discoveries it is possible but by no means certain that costs would be lower.