January 17, 2012
The NYT reported on a new government regulation that will require drug companies to disclose payments they make to doctors. The reason is to expose potential conflicts of interest that could influence their research, public statements, and prescription writing.
It would be helpful to include some comment from economists on this new regulation. The sort of corruption associated with patent protection for prescription drugs is exactly what economics predicts would result from a system of government-granted monopolies that allow drug companies to sell their product at several thousand percent above the free market price.
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