We bear the brunt of the world's costs in many areas, Eri. There's a reason we spend more on medical things than a lot of other countries. We're the ones doing the heavy lifting. Same for our military, come to that.

The current approval system needs work. It practically selects for money-grubbing. I already mentioned the cost of the approval process, which has to be re-done for every use of the same drug.

When a patent is issued on a new drug, the 20-year clock starts ticking BEFORE the approval process begins. Whatever is left over after approval is the profit window for the drug company before the generics come in. When you consider the average approval time of 12 years, you can see part of the problem. When you look at the price of a generic vs. a brand name, you are looking at the cost differences generated by the research and approval process. It's not like generic manufacturers aren't making decent profits, too.

Some pharmaceutical companies try to tweak formulations to create new patents on what is essentially the same drug. Kind of sleazy, but understandable.