funny, how do you think it works in 'socialist' countries? Pharma companies together with the government are giving pills for free? No, there's a national health insurance - a monopoly that is supposed to make rational decisions (in theory), but somehow ends up stuffing big pharma with taxpayer money. Exactly like those damn capitalists in the US
You obviously set up a strawman by saying that the pills "aren't free." Most countries use their ability to violate patents as a threat to squeeze drug companies down to a price that exceeds their costs on a marginal unit, but less than their costs on an average unit. It makes sense for the companies to go along because something is better than nothing and they still have the US paying full fare.
The US cannot get in on this, too, without destroying the drug industry, which depends on revenue from the American customer base. Other systems are possible, but one should demonstrate their effectiveness before destroying the old system.
So, yeah, like the grandparent said, the US is "unfairly" subsidizing the rest of the world. It would be nice if other countries shared the load, but the US can't force them.
> The US cannot get in on this, too, without destroying the drug industry, which depends on revenue from the American customer base.
The mining sector often makes similar arguments whenever proposals are made to increase resource taxes and it's always a bunch of hot air. Introducing a government buyer to negotiate down the price of essential drugs (such as this Hep-C cure) will not put Big Pharma out business. It may impact profits but they'll still make billions upon billions of dollars.
