Our insurance system IS the government program. The government negotiates prices with the manufacturer. This is also the reason we have drug shortages. Cheaper drugs get re-exported legally by third parties to countries with higher prices. Abbvie straight up made a system where their new drugs would be delivered personally to the individual patient via a personal code to circumvent what happened to Humira.
Tresiba, Insulatard, Actrapid and a couple of other insulins, as well as antibiotics like Augmentin (which is in short supply to begin with) also suffered from re-export until the government issued a temporary ban.
The wholesale companies’ response? Stockpile and wait for the ban to expire.
1000$? It costs 80$ here. Insurance covers the 1mg injection completely. Drug prices on the US market are inflated as hell. Also it can be made for 5 bucks but the decades of research and billions poured into said research and testing is what raises the price.
Regardless corporate greed is corporate greed and big pharma is into some really shady stuff. Especially when we get to biologicals.
Lately my cat starts meowing while standing at the shoe dresser. As soon as I go there he tries to climb on my shoulders. I bend over a bit and he climbs on my back and wants me to go around the house. I was enslaved as soon as he entered our home.
It’s generally legal and heavily subsidised. See also animal agriculture.