Creeper
UDFA
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I have a neighbor who worked in the pharmaceutical industry for years. He is retired now but it was interesting for me to get his perspective on this issue. He was not an executive or anyone making the big decisions but he is a pharmacist so he has some intelligence about the issue.
I will start with the disparity in drug prices in other countries. That is usually because other countries subsidize prescription dugs to lower the prices, while also having price mandates on the drug companies. It seems unfair to us but in fact this does force higher prices in the US.
Why? Because it is expensive to develop and test drugs and get them approved by the FDA. It is also time consuming. For every drug that passes FDA approval there are usually several that do not make it to market for one reason or another. All those development costs are wasted but have to be recovered.
The one thing we do not want to do is slow or stop research and development because it doesn't pay. We need a balance that allows drug companies to continue developing new and better drug treatments, so they can make money, while controlling prices. It is not as easy as it sounds.
Drug prices are a problem I am curious to see how this EO is going to work.
