Firstly I would like to thank all my readers. Please take the time to comment or add to the discussion.
Australia is the only country in the world with its PBS, Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme. The government buys bulk order medicines directly from the companies and then on sells then to the public at controlled prices. Mostly that means a reduced price by the government and reduced due to the benefits of bargaining for bulk orders. In other countries when you enter the pharmacy the pharmacist is a middle man between you and the pharmaceutical company. Most pharmaceutical companies are multinationals and drive profit margins high for their investors. They also have high research and development costs and huge insurance costs. As most of them have offices in the United states of America they have large litigation bills to cover. All these things drives up the cost of medicines. Protection from the government, especially with pensioner and health care plans means that people can afford medicines.
Once the pharmaceutical company loses its rights over a medicine it has developed, about five years, anyone can copy the drug. hence the pharmaceutical company needs to drive up the costs in the first five years as it loses most of its market share after this. It is good for society as it forces the pharmaceutical companies to continually research and find new drugs and treatments. It is not so good that the whole research industry is driven by profit making companies. This skews research towards profitable. There is little money left for independent research.
This is different in the Translational centre in Brisbane, led by Professor Ian Frazer, where research is the key focus but to make it profitable and keep it in Australia, the research feeds directly to the manufacture part of the complex. This ethical approach is not the normal for most pharmaceuticals.
Of course the government want to pay less for the medicines and so pass the savings onto the consumers and the general public. Its approach is that cheaper manufacturers who essentially steal the research and development from the pharmaceutical companies can make the drugs at cheaper price. It would seem logical that the generic and the original are the same. They are not always in fact but very little research is available to test the hypothesis as no-one would pay for this research.
The government is now wanting to cut the rebate cost to pharmacists. Of course we all want to pay less. We all want quality. We all want quality services. The pharmacist is a professional who needs adequate compensation or income but the government is controlling it. Already pharmacists have to supplement their income and business viability by selling other items like cosmetics and perfumes, after hours service and discount competition. We need our pharmacies. Lets not squeeze them out of existence. Lets protect this industry which is the envy of the world.
Australia is the only country in the world with its PBS, Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme. The government buys bulk order medicines directly from the companies and then on sells then to the public at controlled prices. Mostly that means a reduced price by the government and reduced due to the benefits of bargaining for bulk orders. In other countries when you enter the pharmacy the pharmacist is a middle man between you and the pharmaceutical company. Most pharmaceutical companies are multinationals and drive profit margins high for their investors. They also have high research and development costs and huge insurance costs. As most of them have offices in the United states of America they have large litigation bills to cover. All these things drives up the cost of medicines. Protection from the government, especially with pensioner and health care plans means that people can afford medicines.
Once the pharmaceutical company loses its rights over a medicine it has developed, about five years, anyone can copy the drug. hence the pharmaceutical company needs to drive up the costs in the first five years as it loses most of its market share after this. It is good for society as it forces the pharmaceutical companies to continually research and find new drugs and treatments. It is not so good that the whole research industry is driven by profit making companies. This skews research towards profitable. There is little money left for independent research.
This is different in the Translational centre in Brisbane, led by Professor Ian Frazer, where research is the key focus but to make it profitable and keep it in Australia, the research feeds directly to the manufacture part of the complex. This ethical approach is not the normal for most pharmaceuticals.
Of course the government want to pay less for the medicines and so pass the savings onto the consumers and the general public. Its approach is that cheaper manufacturers who essentially steal the research and development from the pharmaceutical companies can make the drugs at cheaper price. It would seem logical that the generic and the original are the same. They are not always in fact but very little research is available to test the hypothesis as no-one would pay for this research.
The government is now wanting to cut the rebate cost to pharmacists. Of course we all want to pay less. We all want quality. We all want quality services. The pharmacist is a professional who needs adequate compensation or income but the government is controlling it. Already pharmacists have to supplement their income and business viability by selling other items like cosmetics and perfumes, after hours service and discount competition. We need our pharmacies. Lets not squeeze them out of existence. Lets protect this industry which is the envy of the world.
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