>It seems counter-intuitive to me that the cost of prescription drugs would drop if it were harder to get generics. The low cost of generics is the only thing making them affordable at all in some cases. Let's say I consider the pharmas among the great gougers of our times. But I have been mistaken before ;-)
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>When you consider the high cost of R&D - the drug companies invest a lot of money to bring a drug to market. Their patents begin when the R&D begins. If the life of the patent were longer (I think it is 20 years right now, but I could be wrong - somethimes it takes over 10 years of R&D and the associated expenses to bring the drug to market), the drug companies could charge less and still recover these costs. As it is, it is the generic drug manufactures who did not contribute one thin dime to develop these life-saving drugs that make money on the work done by the drug companies. Yes, this is a good thing for consumers, but there has to be some happy medium where the people who invested in making the drug possible are allowed to recover the cost of their investment without hurting the consumer. I think the solution is to extend the suration of the patent.
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OK, I see your point now -- if the pharmas had the market to themselves for longer, they could charge lower prices. In essence, amortize their R & D costs over a longer period of time. I guess I am still a little skeptical that they would actually do so.

>I don't think people who don't have the problem understand how hard it is to quit. Still, some succeed in doing so. One of the best things about going to meetings for me is being around them. I know it can be done and I have NOT given up.
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>As you say, some people do succeed in quitting. And I think that you can to as long as you make sure you call your sponsor before you go out and purchase a bottle. This is something that you simply must make the commitment to do - no excuses.

That is exactly what I am focusing on -- call first, and no excuses. Let it be recorded that on this date we were on the same page, paragraph, and sentence <g>.