According to the Wall Street Journal, "93% of 40 top branded drugs available in" the U.S. are more expensive here than in Norway. This is generally true "throughout the developed world."
One way other countries keep their healthcare costs down is by "demanding proof of new drugs’ value in comparison to existing ones and sometimes refusing to cover medicines they doubt are worth the cost."
But in the U.S. we do not do that.
We acknowledge that R&D is expensive and Big Pharma must recover its costs, and also earn profits to encourage new drug development. But Americans should not be paying tens of thousands of dollars annually for new drugs that are less effective, or not much more effective than existing, often generic drugs.
We need data to make informed choices. Give us that data.