Price controls seen as key to Europe's drug innovation lag

[Plane]

How do you think they live?

Thjeir lives are managed for them much more than ours , what they can build on their lots , what carreers they can choose , how much they can save up or spend , how they can buy or sell land or goods is much more in the hands of the government .

I would mention that they have less privacy too , it it were not that we are busy looseing ours down to their level pretty fast.

If we level the playing feild by lowering our rates of development with price controlls humanity as a whole will suffer the invisible loss of drugs developed much later the number of deaths and misery caused cannot be known.

[Xavier_Onassis]

I believe what RD is saying is that ya'll are misisng a major point, namely that it is the very presence of price controls that is causing this lag, thereby hurting the average European.

-================================
For someone who calls himself a professor, you are not very good at critical thinking.

The prices of many common drugs are three to ten times as high in the US. In Europe, medical plans cover a share of the costs of drugs, so what we have is a few Europeans that cannot buy new drugs (that are not necessarily BETTER drugs), while in the US we have many people who could be helped by drugs, but cannot afford them, such as hypertension drugs that sell for over $2.00 per pill.

Whether the European is "average" or not is immaterial, as no one can buy an unapproved drug in Europe, and the doctors will be unlikely to have been made aware of its existence.

A lot of these "new" drugs are simply reformulated versions of drugs whose patents have run out. Antacids at $8.00 per pill that for most people could be replaced with the same results with something as simple as Maalox.

[_JS]

Thjeir lives are managed for them much more than ours , what they can build on their lots , what carreers they can choose , how much they can save up or spend , how they can buy or sell land or goods is much more in the hands of the government .

I would mention that they have less privacy too , it it were not that we are busy looseing ours down to their level pretty fast.

What they can build is restricted because they simply don't have as much land as we do.

What careers they can choose? Do you have evidence of this? I have cousins in many different fields and I'm interested in hearing your answer on this. One of my cousins is a lawyer who overcame a rare disability. Please answer this for me, I might email the discussion with her.

They can buy and sell goods much as we can. Clearly you've never been to a European marketplace.

Actually, their privacy is rather well-guarded, at least in Britain and Germany. Please explain.

If we level the playing feild by lowering our rates of development with price controlls humanity as a whole will suffer the invisible loss of drugs developed much later the number of deaths and misery caused cannot be known.

Yes, yes...three of the top five manufacturers of drugs in the world are in Europe. I'm not buying this argument. And don't give me the emotional dreg of "death and misery" as if that doesn't happen right here to people too poor to afford operations and/or these wonder drugs of which you speak.

[Religious Dick]

From the article:

A slackening of price controls in Europe seems unlikely in the current environment. But, according to Kaitin, pricing reform might indeed be Europe's best hope ? if it happens in the US, where Congress is scheduled to renew the relevant legislation this October.

"There is increasing pressure on the US government to introduce drug price controls," he says, "if that happens, it could balance the playing field."

So... the key to making Europe more competitive in drug development is to likewise cripple R&D in America?

How did I know you were a liberal?

Actually, their privacy is rather well-guarded, at least in Britain and Germany. Please explain.

ROTFLMAO!!!

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/03/26/ncctv26.xml
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/south_of_scotland/6293823.stm
http://www.reason.com/news/show/120250.html

Yes - in Britain they have surveillance cameras watching surveillance cameras to insure your privacy is well-guarded!  Oy!

Yes, yes...three of the top five manufacturers of drugs in the world are in Europe.

And almost all of the top consumer electronics manufacturers are in China. Now, how much of the stuff that they manufacture is designed there?

Development. Manufacturing. Two different things.

[_JS]

Yes - in Britain they have surveillance cameras watching surveillance cameras to insure your privacy is well-guarded!  Oy!

A recent development with the war on terror and not something all that well-received.

They would point to the fact that we carry National ID cards (social security and Driver's licenses) as more of an intrusion.

Do I need to post a "ROTFLMAO" as well?

[Religious Dick]

They would point to the fact that we carry National ID cards (social security and Driver's licenses) as more of an intrusion.

Oh, really?

Do I need to post a "ROTFLMAO" as well?

Won't need too much pursuading
I don't mean to sound degrading
but with a face like that
you got nothing to laugh about

--Ron Wood, Rod Stewart "Stay With Me"

[_JS]

Yes, really. Most Brits hate the idea of National ID cards, regardless of New Labour's stance on the issue. And you'll notice that Blair even struggled to push it through with a massive majority.

Quoting Rod Stewart?

If you want to come out of the closet, I don't think anyone here will be too harsh.