Think The Drug Companies Are The Problem? Think Again

Once again it's time to get back to the task of discussing why medicines cost so much. Or in this particular case, why they don't, though you think this is a reason that they do.

If you were to go out on the street and ask people why they think their medicines are so expensive, I suspect the most common response would be something like "Because the drug companies are too greedy!" And it's not surprising that they would blame the drug companies. After all, that's what they've been told is the main problem for years. Unfortunately, what they've been told for all these years is a fabrication. A fabrication constructed for one and only one ultimate purpose -- manipulation to an end.

Now, regular readers here (I am egotistically assuming that there are some regular readers despite the lack of evidence to support this) have already learned about my belief that some things in medicine are done for non-altruistic, power-seeking purposes (see "Medicare Part D Delenda Est!"). This is another one of these purposes.

We have all been led to believe that the drug companies greedily seek exorbitant profits, and that this is what is the major force behind the escalating cost of prescription medicines. This is not really the case. The corporate profits of the drug companies, after expenses including R&D, is no higher and really no lower than that of your average large corporation. (I will fault the drug companies, however, for trying to hide behind the argument 'we need these profits to fund R&D'. R&D is a business expense, everybody else considers it a business expense, you guys consider it a business expense, no one else is ashamed of it and you shouldn't be either.)

The purpose of this fabrication takes a little explanation. In the current twisted field of medical reimbursement, the vast majority of people have no idea what their medical care costs. Medicare or Medicaid or managed care or an insurance company foots the bill, and all most people ever see is the co-pay, if that much. Those few who look at their bills think they are getting a great benefit from how much their doctor charged and got paid by the payor, never realizing that the doctor really only got paid some small percentage of his charges and the rest went away as a "contractual write-off". (This issue itself is another reason I'm nigh on to postal, but that's a different rant.)

Medicine costs are a different matter. Most people either pay for their own medicines or pay a much higher percentage of the costs of their medicines, so they are much more sensitive to this cost. This makes it an excellent target for manipulation. And there is one group that excels at manipulating it.

Some would call this group "liberals". I think this actually maligns some liberals, as little as that is possible. I am more willing to focus down to who it really is that is doing the manipulating with this fabrication, and I am willing to name names.

It is the Democratic Party.

But what is the purpose of this kind of manipulation? What is the goal? What power am I talking about?

More in my next post.