Class Twelve/notes

From Cyberlaw

Notes 5.1.06

Nesson: CCTV show! Opening it up like a wiki

Role play ab pricing for breast cancer drug

• $45K – paid by whom? Insurance companies or private individuals?

• Affects black women disproportionately?

• What is focus?

o Maximizing profit (pure capitalist) or giving away future (pure socialist)

o Case by case basis plan is third idea, act like Merck

• What motivates ppl who are working on this drug for so many years?

• What is responsibility of board?

o Money

o Ethics

o Reputation among doctors and public…and Congress?

• Question from audience: analogy to ship under duress – price is effectively infinite?

• Question from workers: how are you keeping us interested in the company? Has to do w/ ethics – more money means more research

• Question ab market: price differences at v high levels won’t pick up market bc only ppl who get drug at high prices have $$ or insurance. Difference is what the company does for ppl w/o insurance

• Question ab investment: move to other companies if not enough profits made? What role do ethics play?

• Question ab ethics: no issue of legal liability, just ethics – choice between lying to ppl ab max profits v. refusing to give meds to ppl and letting them die?

o Ethicist: can we do a trial period when you lower price and have good marketing spin?

o Response: need to balance, not that it’s a matter of looking at diff price points to see investment but whether it saves more ppl

• Question from Bill Frist: doctors will figure out ethics if company fails – cost/benefit analysis that physicians do; as a senator, how can I tell my constituents that tax breaks are justified if the drugs costs so much?

o Answer: agree ab doctors; drugs saves lives, also need money to do Phase IV trials

• Question from Bill Gates: willing to pay for drug personally

o If exclusive? Profits win out over providing drugs to others?

o Shows how when ppl go work for biotech companies, they operate under the illusion that they’re helping ppl. Reality happens when they have to set a price

• Bd decided to go w/ 34% and Kip is leaving company – supports Bruce’s theory

o V rare for a company to hit two home runs

o Loss of head scientists is huge – v valuable, hard workers willing to work long hours – real value of company is the scientists

o Response: many biotechs never even hit the first blockbuster, motivation isn’t guarantee of success; can shift cost/benefit analysis, e.g. Merck program

Gary: agrees w/ Bruce that pricing makes something shift in company, but also thinks that is an illusion

• Real shift is that moment when you make the capitalist business decision as CEO

• Ethics is as much PDP as SDP – huge profits using “ethics” as justification

Email papers to Nesson, non-PDF format!

Belee 09:21, 4 May 2006 (EDT)