Pharm Corporations are International. They manufacture drugs internationally including in China and India. They sell the same drugs internationally.
The US provides Pharm patents. The patents can be for 17 years and include the possibility of extensions on that time if small changes are made to the drug. No other Company may produce the same drug. There can be copy cats but they cannot be the same. They may not use the patent protected research and development.
The patents permit Pharm to set the prices. There is literally no limit on what they can charge in the US. This is not what happens in other Countries. The same Pharm Corporation is not permitted to charge whatever they want in the UK, for example. UK drugs are much cheaper than the US. So the Pharm Corporation can charge $7 for a drug in the UK then come back to the US and say how much profit do we want on this drug and raise the price to make up for the profit they want.
Basically the citizens in the US are paying for Research and Development for the entire World. The US pays more for medications than any other Country due to this system.
We need to bring back manufacturing of medications to the US. A discussion on what prevents it needs to take place.
We need to reduce the amount of time for a patent. It does not take that much time to recoup the R/D costs. Pharm can spend less money on lobbying and share buybacks. The top ten earning Pharm Corporations are spending billions on lobbying and share buybacks.
Pharm Corporations should not be permitted to charge US citizens more than citizens of another Country. There can be adjustments for cost of living and value of the dollar. They will need to do a better job getting paid properly in other Countries and stop making us pay the difference for their profit gain.