Helping Consumers and Heart Patients?

Pharmaceutical companies justify huge drug price markups on the ground that the research to develop the drug was, itself, hugely expensive. 

In February, a Canadian company, Valeant Pharmaceuticals International*, decided to raise the price of two heart-saving drugs (Nitropress, Isuprel) by 212 percent and 525 percent, respectively, even though it had conducted no research on the drugs. 

That was because, reported The Wall Street Journal, all Valeant did was buy the rights to the already-approved drugs from another company (which, of course, had thought the drugs -- research and all -- had been fairly priced at the lower amounts). 

Said a Valeant spokesperson, "Our duty is to our shareholders and to maximize the value" of our products (even, apparently, if it owned the product for less than a day before jacking up the price as much as five-fold). 

Source: Wall Street Journal, 4-26-2015

*Valeant Pharmaceuticals International, Inc. is a publicly traded pharmaceutical company based in Montreal, Quebec. The company focuses on neurology, dermatology and infectious disease with several drugs in late-stage clinical trials and several currently on the market. In addition, Valeant has a portfolio of more than 500 products from its prior history as a group of specialty chemical and radiochemical research, development and supply companies with a history stretching back to the 1960s.

Valeant sells a wide range of drugs, including over-the counter medications and medical devices, as well as prescription drugs such as antidepressant Wellbutrin XL.[4] Kinerase, which uses kinetin as active ingredient, is one of the most popular products of Valeant.

An important part of the growth strategy for Valeant has been acquisitions, sometimes in the multi-billion dollar range, of medical and pharmaceutical companies. As of July 2015, the company was valued at over $116 billion by market capitalization, making it the largest public company in Canada and the largest pharmaceutical company in the nation.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valeant_Pharmaceuticals

$116 billion? No wonder, eh, with price hikes like the above. I mean, look at the way golf and country club membership fees have risen! 

See ya, eh!

Bob