On occasion I will use colchicine for gout. Colchicine is derived from saffron and has been for thousands of years. It was described as a treatment in the Ebers Papyrus (circa 1500 BC, and Egyptian medical papyrus).
It used to be an inexpensive (and still is everywhere except in the US), effective single ingredient oral medication but in 2009 URL Pharma submitted it to the FDA and was granted a patent on it.
In addition to being granted a patent on something that was, and should have remained, in the public domain URL sued for, and was granted. an exclusive on this drug. In September 2010, the FDA ordered a halt to marketing unapproved single-ingredient oral colchicine.
Now, understand it has been in use for a long, long time and no changes were made, but now URL was still granted an exclusive on it.
URL jacked the price from $0.09/tablet to $4.85/tablet and this one move increased annual costs for the drug to U.S. state Medicaid programs from $1 million to $50 million. Medicare also paid significantly higher costs making this a direct money-loser for the government. Untold millions more were stolen from those who did not have insurance or use it to pay for the medication directly.
In addition to being granted a patent on something that was, and should have remained in the public domain, URL sued for, and was granted. an exclusive on this drug. In September 2010, the FDA ordered a halt to marketing unapproved single-ingredient oral colchicine.
As I said earlier, I have no problem with a company asking more for their product unless like was done in this case, they pay off enough people to keep others from competing with them. No competition, no exclusives.