The “Health Care System” of India

There is a heart wrenching story in today’s NYT online about what happens when you get sick in India.  There is no adequate public health system, and the family of a patient who needs expensive treatment can bankrupt themselves paying for surgery and drugs.  The Indian government has responded to this situation, in part, by invalidating patents on many of the most expensive cancer drugs.  Herceptin, which may cost $15,000 for a course of treatment, is paid for with the patient or her relative’s life savings.  So the government induced the drug company to give up the patent, and within a year from now, a generic company will be producing it for a reasonable cost.  This is heaven-sent because, of 25,000 patients in India who need Herceptin, only 1,500 have gotten it.  Numerous other drugs are being dealt with in similar ways, by either voluntary or formal involuntary invalidation of the patent.  The impact on drug company profits may be devastating, or the companies may be able to adapt to the changes.  You can imagine the relative positions of drug company lobbyists and consumer activists.

The main problem is that, if Indian drug companies are able to produce generics in this manner and get away with it, companies in China, Pakistan, Indonesia, and even the United States may try to follow suit.  This is the real fear that keeps pharmaceutical executives awake at night.   They deserve to have insomnia.   Their greed has created this horribly distorted situation in the first place.

Read the article at: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/30/health/indias-efforts-to-aid-poor-worry-drugmakers.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=edit_th_20131230&pagewanted=all