If that book enabled sick people to continue living another year, and they started out charging $2000 and gradually increased that to $10000 while the book production cost remained at $2, there would begin to be many ethical questions.
You’re right that the per-pill cost is only the start of what it takes to develop / test / manufacture / distribute / market the pill. But the first two are done by the time the pill comes to market and the last is minimal because you have a captive market, people who have the cancer the pill is treatment for.
Increasing the cost year after year, because you have a captive market of people that will die without your product, should raise significant ethical and legal questions. Especially because large parts of the research and testing are publicly subsidized anyway.
$10 no.
If that book enabled sick people to continue living another year, and they started out charging $2000 and gradually increased that to $10000 while the book production cost remained at $2, there would begin to be many ethical questions.
You’re right that the per-pill cost is only the start of what it takes to develop / test / manufacture / distribute / market the pill. But the first two are done by the time the pill comes to market and the last is minimal because you have a captive market, people who have the cancer the pill is treatment for.
Increasing the cost year after year, because you have a captive market of people that will die without your product, should raise significant ethical and legal questions. Especially because large parts of the research and testing are publicly subsidized anyway.
I tend to agree.