Cheap Drugs vs. Good Drugs

Thirty years ago, advertisements for Winston cigarettes asked, "What do you want--good grammar or good taste?"

Now, Forbes asks, "What do you want--good drugs or cheap drugs?"

Reporting on a study that looks at the issue of price controls on prescription drugs and how that might affect the development of new drugs, Johns Hopkins professor Gerald Anderson says, "The clear choice…is better access to drugs for Medicare beneficiaries or higher prices for drugs that may lead to more research and development."

Whole story here.

Reason's Ronald Bailey defended the outrageous profits earned by drug manufacturers in his great piece, "Goddamn the Pusher Man: Why does everyone seem to hate the pharmaceutical industry?" (One clue: It ain't because they're beautiful.)