ABSTRACT
Pharmaceutical firms are the personification of crony capitalism and the resulting greed and dysfunction in the US health care system. Thanks largely to their money influence, the pharmaceutical industry is one of the most profitable businesses in America. Pharmaceutical companies employ the greatest number of lobbyists and spend the most on lobbying, ranking them #1 in both categories among 83 US industries. Pharmaceutical firms rig the health care system in alliance with other key players, especially politicians and physicians. A myth is propagated that if drugs are expensive in the US, it is because of the costs associated with research and innovation. The arguments offered in this chapter suggest that the contrary is true. There is rather a lack of new drugs. Drug companies are labeling existing drugs with minor variations as new drugs. This allows them charging higher prices. Drug companies have also contributed to the corruption of research and science. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is too subservient to pharmaceutical firms. It, thus, ends up serving the interests of drug companies rather than the larger American public.
