Sir, – Minister for Health Leo Varadkar is correct in stating that drug companies are using patients as pawns and charging "unbelievably high prices" for life-saving new drugs ("Varadkar says dealing with drug companies brings out the socialist in him", December 17th). He is not, however, correct to attribute this to "greed incorporate".
Pharmaceutical companies are similar to all publicly traded companies in that their fundamental responsibility is to their shareholders. Hence when they are granted a patent (monopoly) to market a drug as a reward for drug research, their sole objective is to maximise profits. This they do by charging as much as the market will bear. It is this patent that results in new drugs being sold at prices that bear no relationship to their manufacturing price.
We need to create an alternative mechanism to fund drug research, as suggested by Médecins Sans Frontières, which will permit new drugs to be manufactured and marketed in the open market at an affordable price. – Yours, etc,
KIERAN HARKIN,
Castleknock, Dublin 15.