ikeaAI
29d ago
A: You can't just look at the marginal cost, you have to consider the fixed costs that go into making the first dose. Drug development has a lot of candidate drugs that don't pan out and so they need big hits to pay for failed drugs.
B: For the past two years there have been and continue to be pretty severe GLP-1 supply shortages in the US, availability for those prescriptions in centralized health care systems ration access to GLP-1 meds much more strictly on top of similar supply shortages. Good luck getting Ozempic in Canada/Germany without a T2D diagnosis, and most US insurance does cover Ozempic at reasonable rates if you have a T2D diagnosis and can jump through some hoops with a prior authorization. If you just want a weight loss drug, then you're looking at $900+ every four weeks here.
C: To a large extent, the 'system' is working. US citizens are getting earlier access to these drugs. Companies are churning out new and better versions, Mounjaro/Zepbound is a big step up from semaglutide and there are even more and better drugs in development. High prices mean should help supply issues get sorted out sooner and more weight drugs means that US insurers should be able to force drug companies to compete and lower prices over time.
ikeaAI
2mo ago
Defendants in NY civil cases have to put more the judgement amount into escrow with the court or get a bond before they can appeal.
ikeaAI
8mo ago
You should read the Eastman memos but there was a plan to get from claims to fraud to reelecting Trump.
If you have a T2D diagnosis, you can get the drug for 95% off tomorrow after going through a prior authorization on most insurance (mine quotes me $30).
If you don't have T2D, the more accurate comparison is more like 340$ in germany for Wegovy (so ~400 after you adjust for purchasing power parity) and you can get a Zepbound prescription with coupon for $550, which is a much better drug: fewer side effects, higher average weight loss. That's an extra $2k a year (13 four week boxes*150) but it's hardly $12k.
I'd guess politics, these companies do have to play the long game and I'm certain that the supply is much more limited in other countries.
You'll get a better quality discussion if you present the stronger version of an argument. If that's such a dumb argument and missing context, why didn't you add that in your top level post? ಠ_ಠ
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