Since patents are entirely created by statute, if the government wanted to do that, wouldn't it be easier just to write in an exception to the law, e.g. giving Medicare usage of medical patents at a fixed-by-law royalty rate? The federal government trying to take back with eminent domain what it created itself seems pretty roundabout.
Manufacturers have to offer a 23.1% discount, plus further discounts if prices rise faster than inflation. That's why some drugs have "penny pricing", basically Medicaid pays $0.01 for each unit of drug because of the mandatory discounts.
Exactly. It is the government that hands out the patent in the first place. If we, as a society, don't wish to pay $1000 per pill, we can simply have our governments instate a precondition in granting a patent for a drug, that the government has the right to set a maximum price.
Now, the interesting question is: if this were the case -- if acquiring a patent on a drug means that you agree to the government setting a maximum price -- would this drug have ever been developed in the first place?
