Comments on: Politico bashes AARP for fighting to keep prescription drug costs low

By: RN web Â» walmart/aarp prescriptions

RN web Â» walmart/aarp prescriptions — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 16:46:03 +0000

[...] 10.Politico bashes AARP for fighting to keep prescription drug costs … Jun 30, 2009 … prescription drugs aarp generic drugs 300×63 Politico bashes AARP for fighting to keep prescription drug costs … /edsblog/blaming-the-aarp-politicos-wrong-headed-healthcare-coverage/ [...]

By: Cary Byrd

Cary Byrd — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 18:03:23 +0000

Hi Ann,

I appreciate your comments. The data shows that Big Pharma spends more than twices as much on advertising and marketing than it does on ALL R&D, including R&D for drugs that don’t pan out. I would agree with you that successful companies should get all the profits they can — as long as this profit-taking is not enabled and subsidized by the federal government. In a free market system where Big Pharma is not protected by the government against competition from generic drugmakers and reimported drugs, prices would quickly become much more reasonable.

By: ann

ann — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 21:03:34 +0000

The pharmaceutical companies spend billions developing a new drug as AARP has reported. But AARP does not mention the billions that are also spent on drugs that never reach the market place. Drugs that work require years of scientific data collections, repeated testing first on animals then on humans. I do not fault the big pharmas any profits. I do fear that without big profits the motive to produce new drugs will decline. Our children and grandchildren will surely suffer without innovative new drugs being pumped out of the big pharmas. As far as affordability it is a well known fact that the big pharmas give away millions, maybe billions, to people who cannot afford the drugs.