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Price control of drugs is perfectly compatible with the profitability
of the pharmaceutical industry and its ability to develop new drugs. In
the 1990s, approximately the same number of new molecules were developed
by European and American pharmaceutical companies, despite the fact that
all European countries exercise control over the prices of drugs while the
United States does not.
Moreover, much of the money paid by the consumer is not spent for
Research and Development but for paying trade margins and for
advertisement. Few trades are as profitable as the pharmaceutical trade,
where competition between brands does not bring down prices. This happens
because the person choosing the brand (the physician) does not pay while
the person paying for the brand (the patient) has little knowledge and,
very often, no authority to make an informed choice.
Competing interests:
None declared
Competing interests:
No competing interests
21 November 2006
Biswaroop Chatterjee
Lecturer, Medical Microbiology
Faculty of Medicine, Al Tahadi University, Sirte, Libya
Governments all across the globe should define a ceiling for the
maximum percentage profit a pharmaceutical company can get for drugs they
manufacture; more so for which they do not hold the patent.
As cited by the author Mr.Mudur;Public sector pharmaceutical units are
able to provide drugs at a much lower price.However, the sheer volume of
production of private players is not matched by the public sector and most
of the patients who have to buy medicnes urgently buy it at higher prices
of more readily available formulations.
Re: Profit ceiling on drugs compatible with profit and development
Price control of drugs is perfectly compatible with the profitability of the pharmaceutical industry and its ability to develop new drugs. In the 1990s, approximately the same number of new molecules were developed by European and American pharmaceutical companies, despite the fact that all European countries exercise control over the prices of drugs while the United States does not.
Moreover, much of the money paid by the consumer is not spent for Research and Development but for paying trade margins and for advertisement. Few trades are as profitable as the pharmaceutical trade, where competition between brands does not bring down prices. This happens because the person choosing the brand (the physician) does not pay while the person paying for the brand (the patient) has little knowledge and, very often, no authority to make an informed choice.
Competing interests: None declared
Competing interests: No competing interests