There are several problems with patent protection for medicines as it now exists in the United States. First, if the patent for a medicine is essentially the same as a patent for a microchip. However, if someone invents a microchip that is 5% better than the old microchip, but charges 100 times as much, the market will largely ignore the ridiculously priced chip. However a drug that increases survival rates by 5% - that's something that people will mortgage their mother to get their hands on.

Secondly, this idea that pharma companies *need* to charge obscene prices for drugs to recoup costs is rather disingenuous. Countries that have price controls also have active drug research companies. Novartis, for example, is based out of Switzerland. And what about French and British pharma companies. Innovation *can* occur in the presence of price controls.

And finally, there are price controls in the U.S. for drugs already. A patent is a form of price control. It forces the prices up. What we need here in the U.S. is a *careful* set of regulations to allow pharma companies the ability to raise R & D dollars, but at the same time make sure that they aren't bankrupting society in the process.

PRICE unregulated. Please try to keep up.

Without going into detail, which would take hours, as a pharmacist who has dealt with these companies for over 20 years, I would say that the people who run these companies are the scum of the earth ......... lying is their modus operandi ..... they lie about anything and everything ....... the FDA, due to the fee system that the drug companies pushed thru Congress, is nothing but the handmaiden of big pharma which accounts for all the drugs released lately that killed many people (and the subsequent cover-ups and recalls).....

The US and New Zealand are the only two countries foolish enough to let drug companies advertise directly to the public .....

The over medication of the american public is astounding, and I would not hesitate to suggest that the medical system is now killing and injuring more people than it is helping ...

When you add in narcotics of all forms and stimulant drugs such as ritalin and anti-depressives, I would estimate that half the people in this country are on some mind-altering substance .....

I am literally paranoid about driving on the highways due the number of drivers who are under the influence .....

Big pharma has come slow to the game of realizing that that there is a middle ground between charging "what the market will bear" and giving away medicines for free. There is a sustainable model that can be found by charging different prices to different market segments. Known as "tiered pricing," this decades old practice has provided vaccines to hundreds of millions of children for very low costs.

The tricky part of all of this is that someone has to pay for innovation. It really does costs hundreds of millions of dollars to develop a new drug or vaccine. As someone who has watched the industry for many years, I am awed at the large bets that must be placed on unpredictable biology. Rich countries that have paid for the innovation and gotten first access to the new medicines are increasingly putting pressures on pricing and poor countries can't pay. But what do you do with India or China? One day they will be the new innovators but that is not today. They can take the market on generics but we still look to multinationals for innovation and that requires cash.

"-The goal is no longer to diagnose, treat and cure an illness; the goal is to medicate someone for perpetuity. This guarantees a steady revenue stream, at the cost of the patient (or the taxpayer)."

You've got it right there. Have you noticed how few of the drugs of the last few decades actually cure anything anymore?

• AIDS/HIV: you have to keep swallowing your "cocktail" for the rest of your remaining life.
• Baldness: Just keep rubbing the stuff on - if you stop, it'll all drop out.
• Runny nose: Spray into each nostril for a couple of weeks before you think you'll need it, and keep it up daily until you know the danger has passed. It takes several days to become effective, you see.
• Cholesterol, blood pressure, and diabetes meds just go without saying. None of them will make you better - they'll just maintain your rate of dying.
• On the other hand, you probably wouldn't want a permanent erection, and neither would the women in your life.

So increasingly pricey meds are needed for increasingly long periods - like, the rest of your life, if you want it. Don't expect to see many more vaccines - they don't provide a steady revenue stream.

And that's what we all want. Patients who don't get sick are worthless.

I have no idea where you get the idea that the US is an "unregulated" market for drugs. First you have to have the FDA approve your product and the way you manufacture it before you can sell it in the first place. Then most people can't afford what big pharma wants to charge so they have a perscription service that negotiates (regulates) the price for them. I do and I expect that and just about everyone else who posts here does to. So the only people paying an "unregulated" price for their drugs in the US are the working poor and now, thanks to a Republican and entirely bought and paid for congress three years ago, senior citizens. So what we have in the US is an "unregulated market" that's only unregulated for the people who can least afford to pay full price.

"The largest reputable generic drug company is Israeli(sp)"

There also where the bulk of ecstacy consumed by kids in the US comes from. And they commit their share or IP theft, too. Next you'll be telling us what a great patriot and captian of industry Meyer Lanski was.

The whole industry is such a perversion of healthcare and the public interest, it's hard to know where to start. I have little sympathy for any big drug companies. Honestly, when any of them suffer for any reason, I see it as a net-gain for human society at large.

There have been a few very good books written on this recently, which very accurately eviscerate the behemoth and lay bare it's nasty innards. As an attorney who has represented some pharmaceutical giants (and been absolutely appalled by what I saw), I can say they are accurate.

Just a few things that originally shocked me:

-The use of MASSIVE advertising campaigns to "create" an illness, preying on the insecurities of mental health patients (see e.g. the recent ads on TV for "restless leg syndrome")

-Advertising cleverly disguised as medical science "go online to learn more..."

-Directing research grants toward clinics that have provided favorable research results (*wink wink*, not a bribe) and away from clinics that have not.

-The goal is no longer to diagnose, treat and cure an illness; the goal is to medicate someone for perpetuity. This guarantees a steady revenue stream, at the cost of the patient (or the taxpayer).

-The revolving door between the FDA & the industry. There is no effective oversight, when adhering to professional standards means losing your gov't job, and getting blacklisted by the industry. (How are you going to make ends meet then?)

-Even drugs that were effective and relatively free from side-effects would become a problem as the marketing departments got "creative" in discovering new illnesses they could be proscribed for... with little to no clinical evidence to back up these claims.

Needless to say, it becomes little more than high-level snake oil salesmanship. Marketing is king... not research. Not Doctors, not patients.