Tuesday, October 19, 2004

Like Vaccine Shortages? Vote Kerry!

Yes, it is the government's fault that we have a flu vaccine shortage. But it's not George W. Bush's fault. The problem lies with a policy he inherited from the Clintons - Price regulation.

Hillary decided that the compassionate thing to do would be to remove profit from vaccine manufacturers. Guess what? Vaccine makers have been getting out of the business ever since.

"It's a market that hasn't been allowed to make a profit and not allowed to innovate," says Gottlieb. Without innovation, vaccine makers can't engage in premium pricing based on changes that make their product better than the competition. Everyone is stuck with the same old method.

Combine no profits with exposure to John Edwards-like lawsuits and you have an environment that guarantees shortages.

Kerry's solution - Extend Hillary's vaccine program to all of the pharmaceutical industry.

The vaccine market is a harbinger of what could happen to the prescription-drug industry if Democrats get their way. They are agitating for the government to be able to negotiate -- read: mandate -- low drug prices as part of the new Medicare prescription-drug benefit. And the push for re-importation of drugs from Canada is really a way of importing Canada's price controls into this country.

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