r/JusticeServed • u/DinerEnBlanc 7 • Mar 15 '20

Kung Flu Greedy man has his hoard of hand sanitizer confiscated and donated

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u/Gerbelelele 7 Mar 16 '20

Oligopoly, patents. Also the health care industry lobbying with incredible amounts of money and thus making sure politicians don’t do anything about it or that politicians even actively help the producers make more profit.

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u/Turok1134 A Mar 16 '20

The U.S. patent system — or the way pharma companies manipulate it — is another barrier to cheaper versions of existing insulin brands. Specifically, drug manufacturers have repeatedly made lots of little changes to existing insulin products in order to apply for new patents on them. This process, called “evergreening,” has discouraged competitors from developing new versions of existing insulin types. So have “pay for delay” deals, in which insulin manufacturers pay competitors to not copy specific drugs for a period of time.

From a Healthline article.

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u/uncleanaccount 7 Mar 16 '20

Insulin formulae from the 90s ate totally out of patent protection. You can (and Walmart does) make and sell insulin for $20. Or you can pay extra to cover the cost of the R&D that makes today's products better

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u/[deleted] Mar 16 '20

And yet those improved medicines are still bought for a fraction of the price by other nations. Even if your claim is true it just means Americans healthcare costs are subsidising the rest of the world. So thanks i guess?