So long as these private companies are responsible for all R&D investment, though, wouldn't it seem unfair for anyone to step in and limit their ability to capitalize on their investments and successes?
are these private companies responsible for 100% of R&D investment?
anyway, in some cases, it's absolutely fair to limit their ability to capitalize on their investments. An example of a fair way to limit their ability to capitalize might be a lawsuit alleging price fixing (assuming the price fixing actually happened). Another would be requiring more thorough clinical trials for risky treatments. In big, general terms, assuming that a reduction in profits leads to a reduction in deaths, there should be some happy middle ground where people still die and companies still turn profits. so like, yeah it would be unfair to the pharma companies to reduce their return on investment but it's also unfair to people who die because they are overcharged for treatments.
also I mainly took issue with the bizarro "you can't criticize any business if they're following the law" take than anything specifically pharma related
Assume all of the R&D costs are 100% borne by the company.
And btw, I did not intend to imply you as a private citizen should not be free to lodge any criticism you wanted to about this or anything else, for that matter.
Assume also that all actions were in compliance with applicable law and overseen/approved by the designated regulatory oversight authority, e.g., the FDA (I'm generalizing to avoid disclosing confidential information, but at the very least the FDA would need to approve).
Further assuming no deceit in terms of marketing either to doctors or consumers is at issue--what possible legal basis exists to hold such a company liable? None occurs to me in law, but does any occur in terms of "rough justice" based on a non-technical analysis? Would a lay jury be amenable to (eventually) ignoring what I regard as legal principles just to stick it to pharma companies perceived as greedy despite taking all the risks to develop and market life-saving drugs? Assume further that all development and marketing activites complied with existing laws and regulations.
eff 'em anyway, just 'cause?