I think the primary problem of healthcare currently is the cost of Healthcare... What do you guys think is the role of FDA in increasing the cost of healthcare by filtering out medications because they don't meet their standards.. Some times a trial has to show improvement over already approved medicines- why can't they approve medicine that is on par with currently improved medicines or at least improvement over placebo- and let the customer choose. I think that would increase competition and lower drug prices. Anyhow what do you guys think is the role of FDA in the whole 'healthcare cost' issue. Peace be unto you Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
Right now we are seeing millions of dollars being spent on marketing various drugs to people who are not capable of making an informed choice between them. Most drug companies spend far more on marketing than they do on research. That is driving the cost of medical care up, not down.
Isn't it because they are charging so much that they can afford to spend so much on marketing knowing full well that they will recover their money? Where is the risk of competition screwing them over, in which case they would be more cautious... And anyways I was in general- what you guys think the role of FDA in cost is- the discussion is not limited to my example. Peace be unto you Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
The more competition, and the less meaningful the competition (lots of interchangeable stuff on the market) the more value in marketing - compare the advertising budgets of Coke and Pepsi with the advertising budgets of the lock and dam system on the Mississippi River.
I might sound like some kind of whacked out conspiracy theorist, but I believe that the whole system is designed to keep health care costs high, and competition pretty much non existent. No question about it, this is more about money, than it is about our health. The reality is, that we could dramatically reduce the cost of health care so that it is affordable by everyone, but there is no incentive for those who are running things and getting rich in the process to do this.
Well you are right, the US healthcare system is rigged to protect providers at the expense of healthcare consumers. Add to that a signficant inefficiencies ranging from how drugs are marketed (e.g. marketing based on consumer ads and physician incentives versus proven efficacy) to manual (paper) medical record keeping. The US healthcare system is a mess, plain and simple. There are many actors in the US healthcare system each trying to maximize and protect their profits at almost any cost. Why do physicians prescribe expensive drugs when cheaper drugs will do just as well? Why do insurance companies pay for more expensive drugs when less expensive drugs will suffice and be just as effective? Why do insurance companies pay for unneeded more expensive drugs? Why do healthcare consumers demand more expensive drugs versus equally effective generic drugs? Why is it that the US have record keeping that does not allow for the determination which treatments are most effective at treating various maladies? And then you get into our educational system, why does it take 8 years to go through med school in the US versus 6 in every other industrial nation? It certianly does not show up in better qualitiy of care? Why are pharmacy schools lengthening the training required to become a pharmacist?
