05 Oct 2015, 2:26 pm
The NYT had a pretty shocking piece on the business of Valeant Pharmaceuticals, which according to the article is essentially: floating debt, buying companies with drugs that work, shutting down those companies, and then jacking up the cost of the drugs by 1,000 - 5,000 percent.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/05/business/valeants-drug-price-strategy-enriches-it-but-infuriates-patients-and-lawmakers.html
I think it's pretty clear the gov't has to step up here, because this is not only bad for consumers, insurers and the gov't, but also bad for future drugs and all that means, since Valeant is not concerned with development and is wrecking the development capacities of the companies it acquires.
To be clear, I don't blame Valeant for doing what they're doing: it's legal, but it is the definition of short-term goals, which for our society is terrible. But I admit I'm not sure what the regulators do to make it better.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/05/business/valeants-drug-price-strategy-enriches-it-but-infuriates-patients-and-lawmakers.html
I think it's pretty clear the gov't has to step up here, because this is not only bad for consumers, insurers and the gov't, but also bad for future drugs and all that means, since Valeant is not concerned with development and is wrecking the development capacities of the companies it acquires.
To be clear, I don't blame Valeant for doing what they're doing: it's legal, but it is the definition of short-term goals, which for our society is terrible. But I admit I'm not sure what the regulators do to make it better.
