By using this site, you agree to our Privacy Policy and our Terms of Use. Close
Viper1 said:

Etanercept.  The drug you are referring to.  It's locked up to on manufacturer because they pantented the protein they symthesized to make it.  Your problem isn't with the medical indsutry, it's with the patent office.  Get your anger properly pointed.

Actually, they can relase similar drugs.  They are called generics.  And they are usually much less expensive than the original product.   The only reason a generic for Etanercept isn't avaiable in the US is because of the patent on the protein.  Europe doesn't hold the patent to the same strict hold and generics are already in development there.

There is also 5 other drugs ont he amrket that do the same thing that Etanercept does.   Pegsunercept, Infliximab, Adalimumab, Certolizumab Pegol and Golimumab.

The drug costs less in France because as I noted above, they have generics for it there.

thx1139 said:
Viper1,

You keep going on about others anecdotal comments. Yet I havent seen you post 1 link to a study supporting your points.

As for Lasik, why wouldn't the cost for a procedure that relies heavily on cutting edge technology (lasers and computers) reduce in cost over time. Most items that are computer based reduce over time. Look at the supercomputer you probably have in your pocket.

Kasz216,

Ezra Klein was 3 of the 13 sources and the major piece from Ezra Klein is just an industry report he provided a link to.

I addressesd the anecdote thing already.  Why bring it back up?   As for links to studies, no thank you.  Every study can be funded by a source that wants a desired outcome making them nothing more than talking points for the financier.  Besides, I prefer to use the less corruptable faculties like logic and reason.  If you let your mind be made up by some paid for study versus your own capacity for reason, then you are willingly being lead just like the study commissioner hoped you would.  You become their unpaid spokesperson.

And does not the majority of the healthcare industry now revolve around high end computers and technology?   Surgery times and recovery are reduced greatly thanks to technological innovations.  This increases patient volume, reduces hospital supply use per patatient, and so and so on yet the fees applied are still insane.

Tell me again why an 11 cent Tylenol is charged $5 on your hospital bill?   I do wish to hear your reasoning.

Why? Because of a couple of things.  You are not paying for just the aspirin, you are paying for the Dr. who prescribed it, the phamacy tech who filled it, the nurse who delivered it, etc. etc. You are paying for the ER and other patients who wont end up paying their bills because they cant afford it and dont have insurance. We are not going to be a country that throws people out of hospitals because they couldnt prove they could pay for the service before they get started.

As for studies. So we are just supposed to take your word for it. For one I dont even know how much Lasik has reduced in price. The 1st time I checked 4 years ago it would have cost me around $2000 and when I did it 2 years ago it cost me $2000.  Maybe since then it really has dropped. A difference between Lasik, Plastic surgery and a broken leg, and appendectomy, and MRI after a fall, etc. Is that Lasik and Plastic surgery are elective surgeries that in most cases have no need to be done with expedience.  I took a few years before I decide to do Lasik.  I was able to take my time shop around and then have the procedure done.  When my son had an emergency appendectomy, can you imagine the look my wife would have given me if I said honey we should shop around.  When my son fell skate boarding and blacked out and the Dr. said we should do an MRI just in case I didnt say thank Doc I will take it into advisement and shop around for a few days.  If my car gets into an accident I will shop around to see who does the best job for the best price. If myself or a loved one is injured in the accident I dont shop around with their lives possibly at stake.



Its libraries that sell systems not a single game.