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Here is a fun one.
When a pharm company comes up with a new medication they are given a 10 year exclusive window where no generics of that medicine can be sold. This is supposedly to help them make back their costs in developing it.
When I was 8-years-old I was diagnosed with asthma. I'm now an old man of 42. That is 34 years. The first albuterol inhaler I was ever given was called proventil. It is still on the market. Now, 34 years later, you can't buy generic albuterol inhalers in the US. The pharm companies have figured out how to manipulate the system so they keep their exclusivity going.
Proventil (or any other brand name) will cost you $45-$65 each depending on the brand and where you buy it. Several years ago you could buy generics or about $10-$12. Then the government made all aerosol products switch to a non-CFC propellant. Everything that is shot out of can had to switch. The pharm companies claimed that by changing the propellant they were changing the medication and it allowed them another 10 years so the generics went away.
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