Many citizens are not aware of the drastic changes in prices of medication, especially chronic medication for non – communicable diseases, from one country to another. When you paying $70,000 for your chemotherapy in the USA and you find out that someone who is on the same medication in India is only paying $2,500 it is shocking news! Why the huge difference in price?
Simply put it’s because the medication in question is patented in the USA and not in India. One would think that medication has the same price, no matter where you are in the world, and that the patent is global, not country specific.
The article on The Atlantic explains in great detail why the prices differ so much, and what could possibly happen if more countries take advantage of the patent laws that have been placed on medications.
Although patented medication is more expensive than generic medication, surely there are also risks involved in taking generic medication, especially if it is for non – communicable diseases?
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