Why is that we the people can't ban together to stop the high cost of prescription drugs.?

Question

I mean getting medical help and perscription drugs should be equily accessable to everyone and everyone knows it , so why can't it be done.

Answer 1

Who determines that drugs cost too much? In the US, because of government regulations, it can cost a drug company as much as 750 million dollars to get a drug developed and approved.
Drug manufacturers are constantly searching for new cures. Who should pay for all of that research?
Competition and the work for profits have created some miraculous cures. The system works.
Drugs and medical care are equally accessible to everyone in the US.
What proof do you have that you know more than everyone in the drug industry?

Answer 2

Because the drug companies and their lobbyists have so many politicians in their pockets. They give them campaign money. They have companies in their states and can use their power to keep someone from getting reelected if that leader votes against them.

We need to change campaign financing before we can make any meaningful changes in anything else.

This is why I now support John Edwards for Pres. Hillary conceded and decided to climb in their pockets. Obama looks like he's doing the same thing. The only guy among the front runners who has been courageous enough to stand up to them is Edwards.

Hillary tried that many years ago when she was First Lady but the Republicans and the drug companies shut her down. So now she's trying to be the friend of Big Business to see if, by appeasement, she can win Independents and a few female Republicans to vote for her.

Problem is, the American Voter is smarter than that. We know how it works. We know who is on the take and why. It's hard to vote for a candidate who is supported by the very forces that make our lives so difficult and unjust.

By romancing the Rich, Hillary and Obama seem to be losing the poor and the middle class.

I wonder if we outnumber the Rich?

Answer 3

Because Pharma companies are big lobbyists and pay a lot of money to influence legislation in their favor. It would only happen if the people exerted so much pressure on their representatives so that they wouldn't get reelected if they didn't pass a law to cap prices... and even IF there was plenty of pressure by the people on politicians, it would be an uphill battle that would continue for years and years, because the politicians want the money AND they want to get reelected. More likely than not, we'd get some watered down BS, backdoor legislation that would give some people tax credits or similar, but I seriously doubt that you'd ever see caps like you do in Canada, Australia or Europe.

As to the cost of research. If you read the annual reports of pharma companies, you'd discover that the majority of the money is NOT spent on research, but on advertising and marketing for new (ethical) drugs while the patent is still in force. One more thing, there are only about 22,000 or so compounds that keep getting "recycled."

Answer 4

We have very little ability to organize. Most media is held in few hands, politicians won't help because of special interests. Understand, Democrats tried to have the government buy in bulk to get lower prices, but the Republicans chose to go with insurance programs instead for Social Security. Insurance companies then connected with specific pharmacutical companies. This keeps prices high. The fact that many people have no medical/prescription insurance keeps medical costs HIGH. For example, someone gets hospitalized and is unable to pay--those losses are then passed on in the form of higher prices to the insured--driving up insurance rates. That makes insurance more costly, more people can't afford it and the cycle gets bigger.
Suggest you support John Edwards, the only one with a UNIVERSAL health plan proposal.

Answer 5

Nobody ever seems to understand how outrageously expensive it is for pharmaceutical companies to develop new drugs. Most drugs never even make it to clinical trials, and the ones that do cost literally hundreds of millions of dollars in safety testing.

A pharmaceutical company is like any other business; they are there to make money. When production costs are high, then they have to charge a lot for their product.

EDIT: Liberals don't understand basic economic principles, which is why they give reasonable answers like mine a thumbs down. Oh yeah....and they're also socialists.

Answer 6

Because in doing so we might miss an episode of Desperate Housewives or American Idol. Where are your priorities?