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Chopper

Certifiably Surly
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Everything posted by Chopper

  1. So there's little or no patent abuse by pharma and their monopolies shouldn't really bother us...do I correctly understand what you're saying? Here's an NIH study. It's a few years old and the data is only through 2018, but pharma profitability has only increased since then. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7054843/ Here's another NIH study, this one's from 2020 and here's their recommendations for reform from 4 years ago https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7311400/
  2. It might only be 2 or 3. I had to leave and forgot to leave the link though. https://archive.is/HV3K7
  3. Well then you know the point isn't necessarily the date they expire. It's the barrier that having to litigate over potentially 80 or more patents for one medication presents to potential competitors.
  4. I don't think I even implied they do, let alone stated it as a truth. In the example you quoted doctors weren't even a part of it. The discussion about price variations came about because of the way health insurers, their PBMs, and pharmaceutical companies conspire to gouge consumers. edit to add - the example I used of 10 different people at the pharmacy for the same med was specific to illustrate the lack of transparency. Most people won't know how much their medication will cost until after the pharmacy fulfills it. That's why it's good to know about GoodRX but it comes with some negatives to the individual and huge positives to the insurer. Depending on your plan and the med, GoodRX may be lower than your co-pay amount, but Cuban's pharmacy is usually less expensive than GoodRX if a patient has the time to deal with it.
  5. A couple months ago I ordered Snow's using their shipping service. Didn't get the chance to consume it 'til tonight. Served with homemade sides of winter slaw, mac and cheese, and maple bacon baked beans. We used the sous vide to heat it, didn't bother to crisp it before serving. Excellent. Still have another whole brisket and a sausage link in the freezer for January.
  6. Certainly. But you may not be aware that patent thickets, mentioned in a post above, have replaced the direct application for an extension - the improvements are still just as illusory and bogus, they're just using a circuitous route to obtain patent extensions. I-Mak, an organization that works for patent reform and healthcare equity, put out this report in 2022 (pdf) https://www.i-mak.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Overpatented-Overpriced-2022-FINAL.pdf Each medication will have multiple dozens of patents. The top-sellers in 2022 had an average of 74 patents on it - for just one medication. 2/3 of the patents were filed for AFTER the med was on the market. That's a patent thicket. Those companies are desperate to protect the huge revenue streams that exist because of their monopolies. We're talking $24 million per day of revenue. In Europe, where the laws are much more consumer friendly, patent thickets are not as prevalent and as a result of that, they have more generic medications on the market competing with the most popular medications. Also, if you're a company that's about to come out with a generic version of any medication that's been on-patent, especially in the US, get ready to be sued for hundreds of millions of dollars. It's a huge impediment to market and huge cost of doing business, because pharma co's has been stuffing their pockets for years off monopolistic prices, and can pay endless litigation.
  7. But yes of course the pharmaceutical co is going to try to extend their patent. Typically based on an illusory improvement in the medication.
  8. If there are 10 different people in line at a pharmacy each with a script for the same medication, all 10 will pay a different price depending on their insurer and their particular plan. It's worse than airlines because there's zero transparency. We haven't even touched on the evil-ness of the drug formulary scam.
  9. Might need to call pharmacist Mark forgot this
  10. Eh I am certainly a prick but today the MIL is at my house and well...
  11. GoodRX is built off the symptoms of a highly dysfunctional pharmacy/insurer system. The problem with it from the insured's side is that you're not able to use the insurance you're paying $5k a year for, and the money you spend doesn't count toward your deductible or OOP. A minor cost for an individual perhaps but it adds up for the insurers. My thoughts on this are, first, 20 years is a helluva long time and second, that pharmaceutical companies are using other schemes to allow them to extend patents - terminal disclaimers or patent thickets they're called. The FTC just withdrew a proposed rule that would've done something about those but -- to heavily summarize and editorialize -- realized it was pointless given the political/Supreme Court situation.
  12. There are multiple enormous scams going on between insurers and pharmaceutical companies. In one such scam the insurers own the pharmacy benefit managers. In many cases the prices FOR GENERICS your insurer will charge are multiple times higher than Mark Cuban's store. The only way to get a 3 months supply in most cases is to go through the PBM. If you want your med through a local pharm, it'll be the same high price and you'll have to go every month. In another scam, the pharmaceutical company will offer a coupon for those high-priced, name brand medications you mention, then behind the scenes the pharma company and the insurer make their own deals with money changing hands that doesn't even show up on your insurance out of pocket. But employers and insureds are paying for their scam. Another scam is when pharma makes a meaningless tweak to one of their patented meds and are thereby able to extend their patent and monopoly on a product. It's touching that you're concerned about the profits of both big pharma and insurance companies but they are busy fucking you and the rest of us over every day 24x7.
  13. This thread could use a name change to reflect reality -- WTF are you doing health insurance industry?
  14. Or another way to look at it is that the US citizens -- and only US citizens -- are exploited by big pharma to pay for their extensive worldwide profits. R&D expense in the industry averages 17% of revenue per investopedia and 20% per Statista. Good lord. I'm pretty sure insulin is OTC but the pharma cartel charges some people $100 a month for just that one med. And that's just one example. The game has changed in OTC and that's one reason why Mark Cuban can make a profit selling some generics at a barebones price. "All pharmaceutical profits are derived from innovation whether new targets or simply improved side effect profiles, method of delivery, etc." Literally lol. You are so convinced at the thoroughness of your own expertise but you really should have a complete re-think.
  15. Seems like a pretty, pretty bad day for your computers to not be able to calculate weight and balance requirements on all of their flights.
  16. WSJ article: Amazon bought MGM Studios in large part because MGM owned the rights to the James Bond movies. But the owners of the James Bond IP think Amazon Studios is run by fuckin' idiots so she won't greenlight a new Bond movie, spinoff or tv show. WSJ https://archive.ph/60GWW
  17. They're all over. The great majority of jalapenos are purchased by commercial food processors. They wanted consistency in the spice level of jalapenos. TAMU's solution was to take away the spice.
  18. So does Texas have to pay Kern to stick around through the playoffs? Sorry bud we just replaced you.
  19. IT reporting that Helobius snagged one "D"
  20. This was the best season of Slow Horses and it's Apple's best show by far imo. Watched Wolfs and probably the most surprising thing about it was that Clooney and Pitt didn't fuck at the end. It's one of those cute little romance films where the 2 main characters pretend to not like each other. The latest season of Acapulco is another show that's really bad. The only other two shows in my queue right now are S2 of Tehran and Blitz. Other shows I will check out are Criminal Record, Bad Monkey, Afterparty, Presumed Innocent.
  21. Wait...Helobius wants those guys?
  22. Adding: Oprah's sofa.
  23. Chopper

    New Music 2024

    Lucinda Williams Sings the Beatles Abbey Road is pretty damn good. The guitars are on fire and the contrast of her voice with the pop tunes is great. Most songs connect but not all. "I'm Looking Through You," "Rain" "While My Guitar Gently Weeps," and "With a Little Help From My Friends" are among the standouts. The production is outstanding and she manages to bring a wonderful freshness to songs we've all heard a million times.
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