Should the US government control pharmacuetical companies more?

Question

Today I read the Yahoo News article, "Enduring a rare disease with no cure", regarding the rare incurable brain disorder "Batten" disease, that restricts the brain from creating a necessary enzyme that rids the brain of waste. Dead cells then back up and destroy the brain, eventually leading to a vegetable state and death.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070714/ap_on_re_us/batten_disease;_ylt=Aio94doWu55SU2.J.w8qczhH2ocA

Pharmacuetical companies are not interested in funding medical studies on rare diseases, mainly interested in more common, 'financially productive and plentiful' diseases, more lucratively compatable to their money making criterea. I am angered that the government doesn't employ a "forced charter criterea" which allows companies to make their BILLIONS" but also requires a certain percentage of funding in lieu of tax breaks, in order to battle less financially gainful diseases. Not being able to afford to keep healthy is one thing, being too CHEAP to, is another.

Answer 1

This is only one many problems with the current system of private medical research we have. So I can't imagine why pharmaceutical companies should "make their billions" when so many people can't afford the drugs they DO develop and place on the market. Some of those billions went for lobby efforts to keep out competition from Canada, while the safety of the American-made products continues to decline. Much more regulation is needed.

Answer 2

The world is a place of scarce resources. The private enterprise system is the best method for allocating those resources - the ones that do that the best (by satisfying the needs of their customers the best) get the greatest rewards. Government allocation of those resources has many bad consequences. These include allocating drug company research money away from what everyone really wants to what some bureaucrat thinks would be a good project. For example, your desire to cure Batten disease is laudable. However, if the government tells the pharmaceutical company to invest in this, then the pharmaceutical company will have to cut back elsewhere - perhaps on breast cancer research - again, resources are finite. People also tend to think that the "government" is made up of genius people who will always make great decisions. However, go down to the DMV or the Post Office - these are the people working in the government - this is no slam against them, they are just normal, average people like you and me. What gives them the special intelligence to decide where best to investigate research dollars? Bastiat said it best - when the government acts, there are seen and unseen things. You would see the increased research in the disease you are interested - what you would not see are the other diseases that would then go unfunded - perhaps $100 million would save one person of the disease you are interested in and that $100 million would instead save 5,000 people with breast cancer - what is not seen is the 5,000 people that the bureaucrat may have condemned to death.

Answer 3

Instead of rent seeking on medications they create by using cheap fillers calling it new medication and charging the insurance payers, and comsumers mafia rates lets reform the patent laws, and give out cash rewards for any drug discoveries made by resreachers, but sell the drug rights to all manufacuerers of medication. Pharma drug corporation is nothing more than corporate drug cartel. Rewrite the patent laws, and not allow one drug company to make the medication instead allow all companies based on a new discorvery and sell the drug at market rates, instead of the current monopolistic prices charge now.

Answer 4

Drug companies are private enterprise. They are already regulated too much. The US government already spends too much tax money on medical research. If you want to fund studies, go right ahead.

Answer 5

the government should stay out of all funding issues altogether. running at a who knows how many trillion dollar deficit is not the sign of good fiscal management I would hope to include among my business advisors. Capitalism is always gonna suck for some people. get over it