Republican Administration Maintains Exclusivity Stance in GLP-1 (Tirzepatide) Compounding Dispute

[AndyPanda]

Honestly religion is less contentious than politics these days. If you want to discuss the various sects of Protestantism have at it.

Nope!

 

[keangkong]

False dichotomy. We both know that it’s much more complicated than this simplistic AM talk radio host explanation.

Am I oversimplifying? Definitely. If you wanted a more detailed explanation, you'd have to ask a person with more knowledge. I have never taken an economics course. Is it a false dichotomy? Although this is speculation, it's my opinion that without companies making huge profits, these drugs and many others wouldn't have been developed. This is speculative because our current system produced these drugs. Can I say with certainty that a truly socialist system wouldn't have produced drugs as effective as these? I cannot. My own economic beliefs tend towards support for capitalism. I'm toying with the idea that the US should limit the amounts that people can be charged for drugs. The amounts would be based upon some conception of a reasonable return. Such restrictions would reduce the amount invested in pharmaceutical development. That's why it's important not to cut too much. I also worry that once government takes this over that it will create a worse system that what we have now.

 

[hexagonal]

I am generally a full-throated capitalist. I think a fair market in a fair system (though I think that corporatism is dangerous) is the right thing in most cases.

However, I think there are some areas where it produces sub-optimal solutions on the whole - pharmaceutical research being one of them, but other areas being things that most of us are perfectly happy to socialize - police officers, firefighters, etc. Areas where the general goal should be "the public good" rather than "shareholder profits."

And I mean, I'm a shareholder. Both in my retirement fund tracking the S&P 500 and in more active investments in individual companies. I don't think that shareholders are inherently evil. I just think that if I am the shareholder of a pharmaceutical company my incentives are not aligned in such a way that generates the best possible outcomes for individuals that need medication.

 

[oguard]

I think that there should be some level of conscientious capitalism in a free society. We are still all in this thing together and should as a society have some degree of obligation towards one another if we are to prosper as a nation. The mark ups on these drugs is simply insane. Probably it is thousands of percent considering how cheap we can buy it from China and I know the Chinese are still making a hearty profit from their sales. We are fed the myth that these drugs are so expensive due to research. The reality is those non stop drug ads every day and during the Super Bowl have to be paid for and we foot the bill. They can make a huge profit of their drugs, but don’t have to gouge patients either.

 

[exploitedworkerbee]

I for one look forward to seeing our “price controls are communism” friends in this thread pivot on the news that Trump is attempting to align drug costs with other countries’ pricing. I’m not a fan of the man but i support any effort to bring those prices down aggressively.

If you change sides on this now then you have to step back and consider whether it’s not about policies, and perhaps you’re in a personality cult. If you stick with your original principles then good on ya, if it makes you feel better this probably wont work anyway.

 

[Batscout]

Taking emotion out of it. It is Eli Lilly and Novo's patents for both tirzepatide and semaglutide and compound medications were never meant to be permanent. NO, I am not shilling for Lilly, just saying. I mix and match both compound, grey and brand. It all works the same. I will say Eli Lilly expanding their Cash Pay program so vials up to 10mg are now under $499 a month is a start, and more affordable for the general public.

Of course, this was a tactic to showcase availability and the medication not being in shortage.

I am not shilling for Lilly either, they are a for profit company whose goal is to profit. That being said, drug patents always last 20 years. Sometimes this seems to vary because the patent is filed before clinical trials and before the drug hits the market. The molecule patent for mounjaro/zepbound expires in 2036 with the delivery system patent expiring in 2039. No pharmaceutical companies give up patent protection early so we likely won’t see generic versions earlier than 2037. I agree with all that the costs are ridiculous and that they could still make plenty of money if the costs were much lower.

There have been few instances where a newly patented, marketed, and widely appealing drug has faced such a severe shortage. In fact, compounding of tirzepatide may be singularly unique drug given the shortage, cost and long running compounding exception. The vial program is a good step but it would be easy for someone to mess up the opportunity if they don’t refill precisely every 45 days.

 

[Superfluous]

As a European who is very much not a fan of Trump I do support what he'd like to do in the scenario - reduce drug prices for Americans. All of us should have affordable health care. I just wish the method he was choosing to do it was not blame it on the likes of Europeans and suggest the answer is for foreign public health services to pay more to private corporations...

92% of all drugs sold in the US are generics - not patent protected super drugs which need a return for their investments - but drugs that are sold in Europe for much cheaper also - and also manufactured and sold in India for pennies. The fact that Americans can't buy these fully tested cheap drugs from abroad and have to pay expensive local pharmacies is because American laws prevent them from doing so...

 

[Morbius]

As a European who is very much not a fan of Trump I do support what he'd like to do in the scenario - reduce drug prices for Americans. All of us should have affordable health care. I just wish the method he was choosing to do it was not blame it on the likes of Europeans and suggest the answer is for foreign public health services to pay more to private corporations...

I do not see how our government's stated goal of harming your healthcare system can help our system. I'd be more upset if I were you, but thank you for your sacrifice!