Why does Gleevec, a leukemia drug that costs $70,000 per year in the United States, cost just $2,500 in India?

shhhhhhhhhhhh......

someone might hear.....

it is good to hear

Why? Because corporations run the US. Evidently they forgot to pay off the Indian Supreme Court.

if you need the drug through the court that you can buy at a price reasonable

Drugs are much cheaper here, too.

I can get a Ventolin inhaler for $7 at the local pharmacy.

I recall it being much more expensive in the USA.

because US people can afford it

I bet if the actual scientists involved in the invention of these drugs had a say and controlled their dissemination we wouldn't have this problem.

Priced to whatever the market will bear ...

Sure

not everyone can afford expensive treatment so

My mom lives in the northern USA and goes to Canada to get her prescriptions filled. She says she saves enough money doing that to make it worth the trip.

It's even cheaper to buy medicine in Latin America. They're the exact same drugs, only they're made in labs here where labor is far cheaper. (To give you an idea of the wages paid here, a registered nurse in Panama makes $400 a month.)

I thought it was about recouping R&D? That's what we're told over here.

Two things to answer your question.

1. Greed.
2. For those that cant afford it, they will treat them with
cheaper drugs to continue to keep them sick so they will
continue to pay BIG PHARMA and the doctors make moolah.

Hope that helps. Next!

Sure

Yeah. We have Obamacare now.

Everything is "free"!

india's government once ruled (can't remember when, 't was during the last decade) that they didn't have to wait until generic medicine was legally available, to produce it themselves.

Generic Drugs Are a Safe Alternative and May Save You Up to 80%. Whether you have prescription drug coverage or not, if you use generic drugs when appropriate for your health condition you can save money – often more than 50% less than the brand name drug. But, are generic drugs safe? According to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), generic medications are as safe and effective as the brand name equivalent.
[link to healthinsurance.about.com]

Generic Drugs Are a Safe Alternative and May Save You Up to 80%. Whether you have prescription drug coverage or not, if you use generic drugs when appropriate for your health condition you can save money – often more than 50% less than the brand name drug. But, are generic drugs safe? According to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), generic medications are as safe and effective as the brand name equivalent.
[link to healthinsurance.about.com]

Does India have a lot of people that are covered by health insurance? Does the Indian government buy a lot of these drugs and give them away to their citizens for free like the U.S. government does?

what good is a cure

when a treatment makes more $$$

in a land of thieves