It seems to me that the solution to the drug cost problem is to eliminate patent protection for drugs. This is so that there will be competition in the drug industry. The argument that we need incentives is bullshit. Let the drug companies that don’t like being prevented from screwing the public, go out of business. There will be others to take their place. In fact, an additional possibility is to treat the development and production of drugs like any other federal defense contract. The NIH should contract with the drug company to produce a solution (cure or treatment) for a particular ailment on a CPFF (Cost Plus Fixed Fee) basis which is how the government contracts for other things. This means the NIH sends out for bids for a particular solution and based on competitive CPFF estimates, which also considers the approach to the problem, awards a contract. If the drug companies won’t participate, no problem. There are a host of universities that will bid. For those of you that don’t know what CPFF is: If the cost exceeds estimate, the cost is reimbursed at the rate established in the bid. If the cost is less, the fee is still the same. This is an incentive to get finished below estimate. The fee is fixed as a percentage of the original bid. The costs themselves are audited. There can be no price gouging this way. Our greatest progress occurred without profit at medical and/or research facilities.
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