>>As to your second paragraph. I believe in capitalism (I have already lived in socialism and don't like it at all <g>). Whoever will find cure for cancer, AIDS, or Alzheimer's will know that if they set the price for their medication at $10,000, nobody will be able to afford to buy it. So they will have to lower the price until it is affordable and profitable.
>>Supply and demand will take care of the price.
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>How, exactly? What if they decide they make enough profit at $5000, so maybe 2% of those excluded at $10000 can now afford it? And, if they are protected by a patent, and charge as outrageously for production under their patent, they can effectively dictate the price for other manufacturers - thus dictating the price worldwide. I wouldn't call that free market.
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>OTOH, how do we know that the cure wasn't found yet? Any small independent manufacturer, inventor and whatnot, who cures cancer using other methods, is inevitably declared a quack, con artist and whatnot. How do we know some of them weren't real? One young guy from Virginia Beach (or somewhere in the neighborhood) went through a long court battle to be allowed to opt for alternate cure. He won in the end, but it took a few months, and then he went to Mexico to have his therapy and wasn't heard about since, not that I know. Had he died, I'm sure he'd be in the headlines.
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We can argue back and forth with all kinds of imaginative scenarios. But I see capitalism as the best (not perfect, of course) approach to setting the prices. You (based on what I read in your messages) are proponent of socialist approach (anybody who says that government is the best way to set the prices is a socialist in my book <g>). But, anyways, I just don't like when the government will control prices for health-care. Because in the end it will mean more corrupt politicians (and we already have too many of those).

To those that say that price for medications is the main cause of health-care cost being so high (and it is high, I agree, but it is good), I will say that the setting the limits on malpractice suits will greatly reduce the health-care costs too. Which will reduce the premiums doctors and hospitals have to pay for their insurance.

>>The only place, I believe that the government has role, is to make sure that the medication meets requirements of FDA.
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>And to make FDA truly independent.