One reason why America spends 16-18% of GDP on healthcare
(twice as much as Japan or UK):
“Six in 10 American
adults take prescription drugs, creating a vast market for new meds to treat
the side effects of the old ones.
Opioid
prescriptions alone have skyrocketed from 112 million in 1992 to nearly 249
million in 2015, the latest year for which numbers are available, and America’s
dependence on the drugs has reached crisis levels. Millions are addicted to or
abusing prescription painkillers such as OxyContin, Vicodin and Percocet.
Statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that, from
1999 to 2014, more than 165,000 people died in the United States from
prescription-opioid overdoses, which have contributed to a startling increase
in early mortality among whites, particularly women — a devastating toll that
has hit hardest in small towns and rural areas.
The pharmaceutical
industry’s response has been more drugs. The opioid market — now worth nearly
$10 billion a year in sales in the United States — has expanded to include a growing
universe of medications aimed at treating secondary effects rather than
controlling pain.”
Related:
Big Pharma and America's Opioid Crisis
http://vivekjayakumar.blogspot.com/2016/10/big-pharma-and-americas-opioid-crisis.html