Pharma Exec: “Moral Requirement” to Charge as Much as Possible for Drugs

[Trotsky]

Duty isn't morality though. I read the article, it is pretty convoluted and disjointed as to what he actually meant specifically about morality, but it seemed he was saying that it was about the business surviving and sustaining jobs? It's hard to tell. Either way, you can often equate a business surviving to making money for shareholders (and themselves). Certainly not easy to separate the two things, and also it is easy to hide behind a desire to do good for others while lining your own pockets.

Yeah, you can make a quasi-moral argument along the lines of equity and investment - making sure that the money put toward this purpose is most maximized. I don't think it's all that persuasive, but it's a standard line of thinking. He backed off of the "morality" language because, well, it's dicey normatively.

He really went off the rails, in my opinion, when he said that the real immoral behavior was in the "incompetent and corrupt FDA." Yeah, fuck that guy.

 

[method115]

Move over pharma bro... Nirmal Mulye (real name) wants to compete for front seat in Hell.

“I think it is a moral requirement to make money when you can, to sell drugs for the highest prices.”

This was his justification for raising a life saving antibiotic from $475 to $2350 a bottle.

https://www.cnn.com/2018/09/11/health/drug-price-hike-moral-requirement-bn/index.html

This is the logical conclusion, by the way of the unregulated, libertarian capitalism the Right regularly argues for. Every once in a while a CEO sociopath is just autistic enough to say it like it is.

We need UHC, and we need it now.

I’m confused isn’t the pharma industry heavily regulated?

 

[MicroBrew]

Move over pharma bro... Nirmal Mulye (real name) wants to compete for front seat in Hell.

“I think it is a moral requirement to make money when you can, to sell drugs for the highest prices.”

This was his justification for raising a life saving antibiotic from $475 to $2350 a bottle.

https://www.cnn.com/2018/09/11/health/drug-price-hike-moral-requirement-bn/index.html

This is the logical conclusion, by the way of the unregulated, libertarian capitalism the Right regularly argues for. Every once in a while a CEO sociopath is just autistic enough to say it like it is.

We need UHC, and we need it now.

Another sociopath. Sociopathy is well represented in the upper echelons of corporations and politics.

 

[Neph]

Thanks. And?

It means not everyone can manufacture drugs and it is quite likely that
1/ people will die
2/ drugs will actually get more expensive

 

[DIDM]

@luckyshot
This is the logical conclusion, by the way of the unregulated, libertarian capitalism the Right regularly argues for.

So you aren’t going to address that he’s a Democrat?

 

[ChillBroBaggins]

And the poor continue to suffer.

 

[Cubo de Sangre]

It means not everyone can manufacture drugs and it is quite likely that
1/ people will die
2/ drugs will actually get more expensive

Are you trying to contradict that patents (a form of regulation) disallow competition or that competition lowers prices? Just looking at your post here it makes no sense to me that "everyone" needs to be able to set up a manufacturing facility in order for competition to enter the marketplace. But that seems to be what you're saying. Normally the counterargument to getting rid of patents is that nobody will research new medications if they can't make a boatload of money.

 

[Andy Capp]

I’m confused isn’t the pharma industry heavily regulated?

It doesn't matter how "heavy" the rules are when they're the ones making the rules.
Party Split:
Dems:
Repubs:
Others:

$9,316,412

$10,449,501

$29,318
All Candidates:

$19,795,231
Incumbents Only:

$17,673,011
House # of Members Average Contribution Total Contributions
Democrats 185 $27,167 $5,025,922
Republicans 218 $35,727 $7,788,589
Independents 0 $0 $0
TOTAL 403 $31,798 $12,814,511
The US House of Representatives has 435 members and 5 non-voting delegates.
Totals may exceed 440 due to mid-term replacements.
Senate # of Members Average Contribution Total Contributions
Democrats 47 $62,180 $2,922,485
Republicans 46 $41,401 $1,904,464
Independents 2 $12,775 $25,551
TOTAL 95 $51,079 $4,852,500
The US Senate has 100 members.
Totals may exceed 100 due to mid-term replacements.


See also Big Finance, https://www.opensecrets.org/industries/indus.php?Ind=F

 

[Neph]

Are you trying to contradict that patents (a form of regulation) disallow competition or that competition lowers prices? Just looking at your post here it makes no sense to me that "everyone" needs to be able to set up a manufacturing facility in order for competition to enter the marketplace. But that seems to be what you're saying. Normally the counterargument to getting rid of patents is that nobody will research new medications if they can't make a boatload of money.

My response was not specifically to do with patents. You had provided a general statement about regulation undermining cooperation and, unless I misunderstood your point, I made a general comment about how regulation of the industry is important. This means both protection of the industry through patents (though this itself is subject to widespread abuse) and protection of the wider community through safety & quality control and legislation that does not allow cunts like the guy the OP is talking about from forming monopolies that kill people for profit. A deregulated market would be an absolute mess.

 

[Cubo de Sangre]

My response was not specifically to do with patents. You had provided a general statement about regulation undermining cooperation and, unless I misunderstood your point, I made a general comment about how regulation of the industry is important. This means both protection of the industry through patents (though this itself is subject to widespread abuse) and protection of the wider community through safety & quality control and legislation that does not allow cunts like the guy the OP is talking about from forming monopolies that kill people for profit. A deregulated market would be an absolute mess.

Competition being undermined by regulation (i.e. patents) doesn't imply all regulation undermines competition. Less competition means higher prices. Based on the part of the OP I quoted, it seemed worth pointing out.

It's government enforcement that allows monopolies to begin with.

 

[D3thr0n3d K1ng]

Its a moral requirement to out mountebanks when you can and to pour molten gold down their throats(since they covet wealth so much) as the Mongols did to the Khwarezmian shah.

 

[Neph]

It's government enforcement that allows monopolies to begin with.

Why do you say that?

 

[JohnnySagebrush]

Hmmm, maybe we have a moral imperative to remove patent protections on pharmaceuticals and allow more imported generics.

 

[Cubo de Sangre]

Why do you say that?

What are some examples of true monopolies that aren't enabled by a law that prevents competition?

 

[Neph]

What are some examples of true monopolies that aren't enabled by a law that prevents competition?

A huge amount of monopolies we interact with daily are natural monopolies . Examples here are the utility industries such as water supply, gas, electricity and other public utilities. Natural monopolies exist due to a minimum efficient scale (MES) being high. When the scale is so high that it can only be achieved by one firm exploiting the majority of economies of scale then no more firms can enter the market. For the sake of an example it is impossible to have a second sewage company compete with the first - the first has a natural monopoly.

Legal barriers can create monopolies and these include government licencing controls which create barriers to entry. Examples are medicine, law, dentistry and many other professional services.

Deliberate barriers can also exist by companies wanting to monopolise a market with such actions as collusion, lobbying government authorities, and sheer force.

Technological superiority can create monopolies especially when one technology becomes 'standard' and others are built upon it as a platform. Microsoft and google are examples of these types of monopolies.

 

[DIDM]

@JohnnySagebrush

Hmmm, maybe we have a moral imperative to remove patent protections on pharmaceuticals and allow more imported generics.


It goes further than that, it’s changing the underlying laws. You can only patent a single isolated compound, and it’s derivatives, so any combination isn’t allowed. This is why marijuana is a schedule 1, it contains many compounds, and can’t be patented

 

[KONG-D'SNT-TAP]

This country needs UHC ASAP

 

[method115]

It doesn't matter how "heavy" the rules are when they're the ones making the rules.
Party Split:
Dems:
Repubs:
Others:

$9,316,412

$10,449,501

$29,318
All Candidates:

$19,795,231
Incumbents Only:

$17,673,011
House # of Members Average Contribution Total Contributions
Democrats 185 $27,167 $5,025,922
Republicans 218 $35,727 $7,788,589
Independents 0 $0 $0
TOTAL 403 $31,798 $12,814,511
The US House of Representatives has 435 members and 5 non-voting delegates.
Totals may exceed 440 due to mid-term replacements.
Senate # of Members Average Contribution Total Contributions
Democrats 47 $62,180 $2,922,485
Republicans 46 $41,401 $1,904,464
Independents 2 $12,775 $25,551
TOTAL 95 $51,079 $4,852,500
The US Senate has 100 members.
Totals may exceed 100 due to mid-term replacements.


See also Big Finance, https://www.opensecrets.org/industries/indus.php?Ind=F

Yea I was confused by this quote in the OP:

This is the logical conclusion, by the way of the unregulated

 

[Madmick]

Move over pharma bro... Nirmal Mulye (real name) wants to compete for front seat in Hell.

“I think it is a moral requirement to make money when you can, to sell drugs for the highest prices.”

This was his justification for raising a life saving antibiotic from $475 to $2350 a bottle.

https://www.cnn.com/2018/09/11/health/drug-price-hike-moral-requirement-bn/index.html

This is the logical conclusion, by the way of the unregulated, libertarian capitalism the Right regularly argues for. Every once in a while a CEO sociopath is just autistic enough to say it like it is.

We need UHC, and we need it now.

Jesus, your need to try to perceive everything through your ignorant love of socialism is astonishing. Quick, name every major drug/medication in history that you can developed in a socialist or Communist nation.

Social capitalism can correct this without a hint of that communist bullshit required.

Sell me a solution that doesn't end in famine and authoritarianism if you want help changing stuff like this.

 

[luckyshot]

Jesus, your need to try to perceive everything through your ignorant love of socialism is astonishing. Quick, name every major drug/medication in history that you can developed in a socialist or Communist nation.

Social capitalism can correct this without a hint of that communist bullshit required.

Sell me a solution that doesn't end in famine and authoritarianism if you want help changing stuff like this.

Speaking of sociopathic autists... oh, hey, Madmick.

If you read my post, I specifically impugned “unregulated, libertarian capitalism” not ALL capitalist principles or basically capitalistic societies.

You say, “social capitalism” is the solution. That’s a new term on me, but whatever— sounds better than what we’ve got now, so I guess I’ll take it. I’ll leave you and Bernie to debate the semantics: