General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: KHN: Democrats Taking Key Leadership Jobs Have Pocketed Millions from Pharma [View all]erronis
(15,257 posts)My experience is that there is a lot of churn in the drug industry driven by profits that cause the increase in profits.
Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs) are a middleman that can obscure true pricing and drive up the costs.
Large pharma buying up generic drug manufacturers as well as tweaking a generic formula to get a new patent are another huge factor.
Not allowing CMS (Medicare) to negotiate prices is a crime that is allowed by the congress.
For most of the developed world, prices are far lower than in the US. The medical "industry" (including pharma) is not run as much as a for-profit corporation as a for-the-good-of-the-people entity. After all, people that aren't constantly getting sick are less of a drain on government than those that can't afford to stay healthy.
And don't get me started on the Sackler murderers who got so many people hooked and dead. The societal costs of the opioid epidemic along with the necessary treatment of comorbidities is staggering.