[GuB-42]

The root cause is that developing new drugs is horribly expensive. And we can't really make it cheaper without compromising ethics and safety. And it is always getting worse since every new drug has to be better than everything that came out before it, and provably so.

The early days of modern scientific medicine when we found miracle drug after miracle drug are gone. The low hanging fruits have been picked, what remains now is hard word.

So every solution that just involve paying less is not a good solution. Labs need the money. The real solution? Sorry, I don't have it. If it was so easy that a random guy like me could find it, it wouldn't be a problem.

There are certainly inefficiencies. Maybe something can be done to limit the tendency of the pharmaceutical industry to focus on producing marginally better drugs for the sole purpose of renewing patents. With well thought out reforms, we can make things better, but just like with the drugs themselves, it is hard work.

[nojvek]

I’m pretty sure a lot of the “hard work” is figuring out how to pay the ever inflating golden parachutes for the executives. Pharmaceuticals are churning out bigger and bigger profits.

A lot of our health problems are solvable. We just don’t want to because there’s more money to be made when people’s lives are on the line.

[GuB-42]

When you are poor and have trouble paying for the ever increasing whatever, it is easy to point out the lavish lifestyle of top executives. But while it's true that you are paying for the CEO's yacht, it represents only a small part of the bill. For the most parts, you are paying for the wages of people just like you. Top executives pay is in the millions, but the company revenue is in the billions.

Even though I don't share this point of view, I understand that the idea of making the CEO miserable can be compelling. However, it wont affect the bill that much.

Generally, limiting the abuse by top management has to be part of the plan, but it can't be the whole plan. It is not even a good starting point.