High Cost of Pharmaceuticals

I came across this article today. It is a start at least. Once the pharmaceutical companies stop buying meals and drinks it will be a real step in cleaning up how the drug companies interact with the medical community. All you have to do is read this paragraph to see how far things had got out of hand:

Last year, besides giving away nearly $16 billion in free drug samples to doctors, pharmaceutical companies spent more than $6 billion on “detailing” — an industry term for the sales activities of drug representatives including office visits to doctors, meal-time presentations and branded pens and other handouts, according to IMS Health, a health care information company.

Think about those numbers. Almost $16 billion in free drug samples and another $6 billion in freebies and meals. No wonder the cost of prescription drugs are so high. How can any industry spend $22 billion dollars on giveaways? Especially when millions of Americans have no health care coverage and no prescription drug coverage. Why can't they put all that money into a pool and make it available to real people who cannot afford what their doctor prescribes? Our health care system is so out of line with reality. Will we ever learn?