Young Turks: Cancer Drugs Marked Up for Big Profit

[CherylK]

Run time: 04:32 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AHvSaTAm6G4   Posted on YouTube: December 03, 2011 By YouTube Member: TheYoungTurks Views on YouTube: 18393   Posted on DU: December 05, 2011 By DU Member: CherylK Views on DU: 1144

 
A report about companies who are buying generic cancer drugs to sell them at marked up prices is discussed by Ana Kasparian and Cenk Uygur of The Young Turks.

Source: http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/11/29/cancer-drug-scalpers-corner-u-s-market/

Subscribe to The Young Turks: http://bit.ly/eWuu5i

[pghtytfan]

1. K & R n/t

[dmr]

2. Something needs to be done.

When you have too many handlers (gray market drug vendors), it puts the integrity of the drug into question (how it's stored, manipulation of lot numbers or expiration dates, etc). That worries me.

Interesting quote about Europe:

Europe has avoided the problem because oncologists do not have the incentive to administer more expensive drugs, and generics cost more while brand names generally cost 20 to 40 percent less than in the United States.

:hi:

[rexcat]

3. Keep in mind that...

In Europe drug prices are dictated by the governments because health care systems are nationalized. In the US the pharmaceutical companies set the prices for drugs and pricing of drugs is not regulated in the US.

The gray market has nothing to do with what is going on. If the pharmaceutical companies don't sell the drugs and the exceed their expiration date there is no incentive for them to manufacture them. It is not typically the oncologists who are doing the purchasing. Try looking at the administrators. They are always trying to find a way to scan the system, same for insurance companies, for profit hospital systems and non-profit hospitals. There is incentive to cheat the system until their are caught and then they don't always go to jail. Just as the current governor or Florida.

One last note - until we have true health care reform (getting rid of the health insurance companies) nothing is going to change in this country.

[Citizen Worker]

4. Just over 20 years ago the mother of a friend was diagnosed with breast cancer. At the time of her

diagnosis she was already in an advanced stage of the disease but she went ahead with the chemo. While visiting her she showed me an empty bottle of one of the chemo drugs. I remember her words well: "you see this empty bottle? That is one month's supply and it cost $199.00. You see the full bottle next to it? That's the same drug, same dosage and it cost $399.00." She had no explanation for the increase in cost other than greed.