[arcticbull]

$100/vial insulin and $700 epi-pens would like a word.

Thalidomide used to cost $6 per capsule in the '70s when it was given for morning sickness (yes, I know, birth defects) but as soon as they found out it cured cancer the price went up to $18,000 and that's on GoodRx lol. [1] Harvoni for Hep C is $94,500 for a 12-week course.

Drugs aren't priced based on the cost to manufacture but based on the projected savings as compared to existing treatments for the medical system - or based on the value the provide to customers. Curing cancer provides value -> price moons.

Unfortunately healthcare is not and cannot by definition be a free market as a free market requires the voluntary exchange of money for goods and services. "Pay me or die of cancer" is not a voluntary exchange but a coerced one - hence the failure of pricing and availability of necessary care you see in the US.

[1] https://www.goodrx.com/classes/thalidomides

[megaman821]

I get your point, but these medicines are all bought by insurance companies for some negotiated price they don't disclose. According to GoodRX a Medicare patient will pay between $42-$198 for thalidomide.

[mrguyorama]

Which is still absurd for something that recouped all the R&D decades ago and costs a penny to manufacture.