[shjake]

> pharmaceutical companies

But it’s hospitals/labs which are as bad or much worse in this regard. “Greedy” pharmaceutical companies are just a boogeyman, insurance companies, hospital admin and doctors are just fine with charging “random”/arbitrary fees based on clients perceived ability to pay and not in anyway related to actual costs.

[hellotomyrars]

It’s both. Pharmaceuticals companies are not an innocent bystander. Everyone is happy to get this big piece of the pie, including drug companies.

[shjake]

Of course not. It just seems that they might actually be the most transparent segment of this entire system which makes more visible.

And well… from the society’s perspective high/very-high prices for new drugs for a decade or so (20 years seems too long though) might be a good deal if it results in very high investment into R&D.