you got that right

Reader comment on: A Pox on Both Their Houses

Submitted by Jeff Stier (United States), Nov 16, 2009 12:45

Pharma is raising drug prices?

I say that good news under the circumstances, since it ensures that they will continue to innovate, but it is still a distorted way of recouping the costs potentially imposed on them by healthcare reform

All of that economic distortion is a source of inefficiency. If the government wants drugs to cost less, they should help pharmaceutical companies lower prices by reducing the costs of bringing new drugs to market. For instance, they should reduce the regulatory hurdles which are a growing cost of innovation. Further, tort reform would help bring the cost of drugs down. These approaches would actually lower the cost of drugs. The government can't just wave a magic wand and expect costs to go down.

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