Why Pharmaceutical Drug Pricing Is Indefensible
July 28, 2026 · Frisian News
Drug makers charge Americans $150 for a vial of insulin that costs $5 in Canada. The system is broken by design, and the arguments defending it do not hold up.
A diabetic in Michigan pays $300 a month for insulin. The same person, driving two hours to Canada, pays $30. Insulin was invented over a century ago. The formula hasn't changed. Yet Americans pay 10 times what Canadians pay for the identical drug. This gap isn't accidental. It's the logical outcome of a system designed by drug makers and defended by politicians they fund.
Three companies control 90 percent of the US insulin market: Eli Lilly, Novo Nordisk, and Sanofi. They've raised prices in lockstep for 20 years. In 2010, a month's supply cost $35. Today it's over $300. When asked why, they cite “research and development costs”. But a relatively small share of their revenue goes to R&D. Meanwhile, a larger share goes to marketing. Taxpayers already fund much of the basic research through NIH grants. The drug makers simply reap the profits.
The US doesn't let Medicare negotiate drug prices. Recent legislation finally allows this, but only for 10 drugs and only starting in 2026. Most countries, from Germany to Japan, negotiate prices directly with manufacturers. The result: Americans subsidize drug development for the rest of the world. The same cancer drug can cost several times more in the US than in countries that negotiate prices. Same drug, same maker, different legal framework.
The industry argues that high prices fund innovation. But the latest blockbusters are mostly tweaks on existing drugs, not breakthroughs. Gilead's hepatitis C cure, Sovaldi, cost $84,000 for a 12-week course in the US and $900 in India. Both were made by the same company. Or consider Humira: it's a 25-year-old rheumatoid arthritis drug that Abbvie has kept on the market by filing new patents on tiny modifications. They've blocked generics for years. That's not innovation. That's rent-seeking.
The system works if you're a shareholder. It fails if you're sick. Politicians promise reform. But until they stop accepting pharmaceutical lobbying money, nothing changes. Diabetics will keep rationing insulin. Cancer patients will keep choosing between treatment and bankruptcy. The drug makers will keep raising prices.
Published July 28, 2026 · Frisian News