Paying Cash at Urgent Care
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@Dashrender said:
@Minion-Queen said:
@Dashrender Yeah the Symbicort is that much without insurance too. I could get it in Africa for $1
Right so I had a discussion with a colleague about this.
Why is it so cheap over there? compared to here. his reasoning is that the USA is subsidizing the rest of the world. His claim, believe really, is that US companies spend millions/billions inventing drugs, the US public is who actually pays for this, and the rest of the world rides the back of the American who foots the high bill, and might only pay the actual manufacturing costs of the drug, but non of research costs, Gov't payoff - whoops I mean drug trial costs, etc.
Thoughts?
I think, and there is some evidence to support it, that most advances in medical science have come out of the public sector. A lot of the drugs we use now have come out of NIH funded grants to public universities and labs. From one report I read, I'll have to find it, most of the revenue from drugs goes to marketing and sales, a small margin goes to R&D.
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I have no clue where the money goes. I know that the BS supplies that we used to get all the time, pens, notepads, desk toys, etc - those are more or less gone - not allowed apparently anymore.
Of course spending who knows how much on lunches/dinners, etc still happens - the claim is that that is the only way a doctor will stop long enough to talk to a drug rep about a new drug. who knows if that's true or not.And talking about universities - man those places are perhaps the most corrupt of all!
