Cablegate
The US drug industry "will move to protect itself" if re-importation of prescription medication from New Zealand, where it can be 40% cheaper (as well as being regarded as having higher safety standards), becomes significant. The industry considers a change in law to be the best way to prevent the problem.
A change in New Zealand law, that is.
Another proposed solution is to hike the cost of drugs here (at point of sale to public) to match US prices, but to provide rebates to PHARMAC (the Pharmaceutical Management Agency - the agency's bulk drug purchases account for 73 percent of prescription drug expenditures in New Zealand) so that they don't incur the extra costs themselves.
With a 40% price difference, that would mean
3-5
6-10
30-50
100-167
You might think, well, the companies are protecting their assets, right? Someone swooping in and selling their product for cheaper hurts their business, and their drugs are patented and everything. Except, if they sell drugs here for $30, why do they cost $50 in the US to start with? It's not about keeping them in the black, that's for sure. It's about turning millions of profit into billions of profit.
This entry was originally posted at http://keieeeye.dreamwidth.org/176322.html. Feel free to comment there instead because LJ is a poo.
A change in New Zealand law, that is.
Another proposed solution is to hike the cost of drugs here (at point of sale to public) to match US prices, but to provide rebates to PHARMAC (the Pharmaceutical Management Agency - the agency's bulk drug purchases account for 73 percent of prescription drug expenditures in New Zealand) so that they don't incur the extra costs themselves.
With a 40% price difference, that would mean
3-5
6-10
30-50
100-167
You might think, well, the companies are protecting their assets, right? Someone swooping in and selling their product for cheaper hurts their business, and their drugs are patented and everything. Except, if they sell drugs here for $30, why do they cost $50 in the US to start with? It's not about keeping them in the black, that's for sure. It's about turning millions of profit into billions of profit.
This entry was originally posted at http://keieeeye.dreamwidth.org/176322.html. Feel free to comment there instead because LJ is a poo.