I needed some anti fungal cream this summer. My doctor informed me that the cream used to be under $10, but the big pharmaceutical company bought up all the generics and now the cream is $120.
More interesting, I got the same story from the pharmacist at rite aid. She couldn't believe I was going to pay for that and then she said, "People are up in arms over lots of stuff, but this right here is a crime that no one notices. 5 months ago you would have paid a lot less."
Usually the FTC would not allow a company to acquire all competitors. Hell, plenty of drug companies have been forced to divest assets because they are acquiring a company that has a competitor.
What may have happened is a drug shortage. Generic companies run on razor thin margins and sometime stop manufacturing drugs that become unprofitable for them. If enough companies do that and you're left with only one manufacturer, price increases are typical.
Cephalon came up with a cute idea. Rather than acquire generics makers, they buried them with bogus patent lawsuits. Then they offered to settle: a bunch of cash up front in exchange for delaying production of generic drugs for a few more years.
Generic companies play the same game. Attack the branded drug makers patents and then settle out of court. It's just how the generic industry works, it all comes down to patents.
I remember a quote from the CEO of Apotex (one of the biggest generic manufacturers in the world). The CEO said "I don't care about scientists, I just need the best lawyers).
I can't speak to the author, but I have a loved one with a serious skin condition who has tried just about everything under the sun. Only recently have they found an ointment that works and it is ~$70/oz. Not all anti-fungals are created equal.
No, that's why we have prescriptions, and education for doctors and patients on when to get one.
Making them expensive means poor people don't do their full course of treatment because they can't afford it (or want to save some for next time), increasing resistance.
Antifungals are like antibiotics or insecticides, in that the pathogen can develop resistances. Also the mechanisms of action differ (again, just like antibiotics or insecticides).
More interesting, I got the same story from the pharmacist at rite aid. She couldn't believe I was going to pay for that and then she said, "People are up in arms over lots of stuff, but this right here is a crime that no one notices. 5 months ago you would have paid a lot less."