Random Politics & Religion #00

It's not uncommon for local elections to swing like that, but on the national stage it's highly unusual.

I was talking specifically about Daraprim.

Hillary Clinton on Tuesday will roll out a plan to rein in prescription drug costs by forcing pharmaceutical companies to reinvest their profits into research and allowing for more generic and imported drugs.

The proposal, which she’ll outline in a speech in Iowa later today, would also allow Medicare to negotiate lower drug costs and cap out-of-pocket expenses, according to details of the plan sent out by the campaign.

The plan seeks to address a key shortcoming of Obamacare, President Obama’s signature health law, as the Democratic front-runner aims to show how she would put her imprint on it.

On Monday, Clinton sent out a tweet referencing a New York Times article about a drug to treat a life-threatening parasitic infection that increased in price overnight from $13.50 to $750 per tablet.

"Price gouging like this in the specialty drug market is outrageous. Tomorrow I'll lay out a plan to take it on,’’ she said.

The nation’s largest companies are charging Americans thousands of dollars for new drugs that are often priced lower in other developed nations while receiving billions of taxpayer dollars for basic research, according to the campaign.

The prescription drug plan is part of a broader focus on health care this week.

On Wednesday, she’ll outline a separate set of proposals to address other out-of-pocket health costs that patients face.

Clinton, who’s also made executive pay a focus of her campaign, will highlight the higher profit margins the largest pharmaceutical companies enjoy relative to other industries.

Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who's also seeking the Democratic presidential nomination, is sponsoring legislation to allow Medicare to negotiate lower drug prices with pharmaceutical companies. His legislation would also allow individuals and resellers to import prescription drugs from Canada, which offers lower-cost drugs. Ninety percent of seniors and around half of all Americans take a prescription drug. A typical senior enrolled in Medicare spends more than $500 per year out of pocket to buy prescription drugs.

According to an August survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation, more than 70% of Americans feel that drug costs are unreasonable and that drug companies put profits before people.

Eighty-three percent said they favor allowing the federal government to negotiate with drug companies to get a lower price.

The poll also found that the public continues to be skeptical of the Affordable Care Act, with 44% having a favorable view and 41% an unfavorable one.

Clinton's plan, according to the campaign, will propose to:

-Deny tax breaks for consumer advertising and demand that drug companies instead invest U.S. taxpayer dollars in research and development. Many companies benefit from corporate write-offs for advertising aimed specifically at consumers. Companies that receive federal funds would be required to reinvest a certain amount in research.

-Encourage the production of generic drugs including lowering the amount of time companies can exclusively produce new treatments.

-Cap what insurers can charge consumers with chronic or serious health conditions in out-of-pocket costs. Health insurance plans would place a monthly limit of $250 on out-of-pocket costs for such patients.

-Allow Americans to import drugs from abroad. Countries in Europe with similar safety standards often pay half of what American pay for the same drugs, according to the campaign.

-Allow Medicare to negotiate drug and biologic prices, especially for high-cost drugs with limited competition

Hillary Clinton and Jassik can go buy the company together and give the drugs away for free then. Problem solved....

wait a tick...just how many parasites does jassik have!?

It is definitely a tricky situation trying to balance Pharma profits with R&D costs, but this jackwad Martin Shkreli is going about it in the worst way possible.

It is definitely a tricky situation trying to balance Pharma profits with R&D costs, but this jackwad Martin Shkreli is going about it in the worst way possible.

Well, research costs are already heavily subsidized, but we aren't talking about new drugs in this case.

That's looking at it from a very narrow business view. Markups on one product (new or not) can fund R&D for different products. If there's one thing that's obvious in the medical field, it's that costs aren't split evenly. I have analyzed cost data for a major hospital group in the U.S., and it's not odd to see hospitals losing money on many types surgeries and making a huge profit off of others. I think I'm still under legal obligation to not disclose which are which, though.

I think I'm still under legal obligation to not disclose which are which, though.

Luckily the internet is full of all sorts of people who aren't violating any contracts by investigating and reporting this.

25 high margin medical procedures

Bear in mind this isn't entirely hospital/big pharm related. Some of these are obviously high-profit because they're fake and completely worthless (see: acupuncture, holistic healing).

It's also a blog and opinionated, not exactly full of evidence or facts.

It's also a blog and opinionated, not exactly full of evidence or facts.

That's looking at it from a very narrow business view. Markups on one product (new or not) can fund R&D for different products. If there's one thing that's obvious in the medical field, it's that costs aren't split evenly. I have analyzed cost data for a major hospital group in the U.S., and it's not odd to see hospitals losing money on many types of surgeries and making a huge profit off of others. I think I'm still under legal obligation to not disclose which are which, though.

There's one type of procedure in particular that I'm not seeing on that list that was a big money maker.

Indeed, but I just took the first thing Google returned that passed the eye test on valid.

I think we can agree that the hocus pocus procedures are a waste of money, and I've had several doctors I work with lament the overuse of some forms of medical imaging or certain other procedures.

There's one type of procedure in particular that I'm not seeing on that list that was a big money maker

I didn't bother opening the link, but I'll say circumcision because jews!

Incidentally, it might not be the common people with the biggest target on Shkreli's head if it ends up being his actions that bring the business model crashing down due to government intervention. It's one thing having the public hate you, but it's another having the super rich holding you personally responsible for their losses.

I actually saw one of his tweets that was very, very accurate.

He said his job wasn't to please consumers. It was to please his shareholders and take public heat for it.

That's frequently why the various sports commissioners are so reviled yet keep their jobs for decades on end.

They get paid millions to be the public face of the owners and take the heat for the owners questionable/unpopular calls that pad their bottom lines.

I don't like it. But it is true.

They should also be criminally liable for the result of those actions. If they faced actual consequences for breaking the law on behalf of the shareholders, there would be some incentive to push back against them.

Well, stocks are falling, so wouldn't that be displeasing to both the consumers and the shareholders?

We are criminally liable (and financially liable) for all of our actions as executives.

Sarbanes Oxley Act of 2002

Dumbed down version of the law

Naw, I don't expect it to be free. But a lot of the drugs that have seen insane hikes are older and generic. There's doing business, then there's profiteering.