[BCPVP]

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1) People live longer

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This may explain some of the expense, but only for the drugs that are used by the elderly and even then such drugs should get cheaper as time passes.

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2) Very active and expensive R&D

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Ah, but why is R&D so expensive?

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3) FDA, and other regulations for our safety

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I agree the FDA and other regulations have a lot of responsibility for the increased price of medicine, but not that it's done only for our safety or that such functions are the appropriate realm of government.

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4) Very limited number of potential customers for many treatments

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Again, this may explain why a very narrow segment of medicine is expensive, but it doesn't help us with why prices are higher in general.

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5) For very serious conditions, few returning customers

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Maybe you meant terminal conditions, in which case I was under the impression that they try to make you comfortable, not try and cure you. I think that "serious" conditions probably generate a lot of return unless they cure you with the first treatment.

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6) Medicine does not scale well (face-to-face with MD, etc)

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Could you elaborate? I'm not sure I understand this part.

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I don't think that the comparison with WalMart holds...

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Maybe, maybe not. Could you explain why you think it doesn't?