https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/14/health/cancer-drug-shortage.html … We're running out of vincristine? WTF.
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My guess is that the problem is regulatory barriers to entry for generic drug manufacturers. They have to prove to the FDA that their factory makes a product that's bioequivalent to the brand-name drug, which requires human studies.https://slatestarcodex.com/2015/09/24/the-problems-with-generic-medications-go-deeper-than-one-company/ …
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"If all you want to do is synthesize an active ingredient in powder form, and you’re not too concerned about staying on the right side of the law, it costs pennies... If you also want FDA approval, it costs $2 million and takes two years."
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Look at the current list of drug shortages. https://www.drugs.com/drug-shortages/ Guess what's at the top of the list? Sodium chloride solution. Fucking SALT. There is a shortage of saline bags in the United States of America. People are going to die.
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You know, there's a story about salt some of you need to read. It's by Isaac Babel. I'm told that in Russia people memorize it, like a poem.https://www.deviantart.com/the-black-cat/journal/Here-is-the-story-Salt-by-Isaac-Babel-320017385 …
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"ICU Medical cited increased demand as the reason for the shortage." Of SALT WATER. Oh no, there's increased demand for our products! Whatever shall we do? I guess we'll just have to sit on our butts and let ICU patients die! We couldn't, I don't know, increase production?
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Why are there only five companies listed as making saline bags? https://www.drugs.com/drug-shortages/0-9-sodium-chloride-large-volume-bags-76 … It's a sterile bag of salt water! Ok, it has to have the right concentration, it has to have a Luer lock that's the right size for a standard IV syringe, but honestly that doesn't sound hard.
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It appears to be how actually existing markets work. Iirc actually existing communism had a bunch of problems not described by the pure theory too.
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Getting reliable distribution of commodity-priced goods is kind of what actually-existing markets are best at. When was the last time a developed country had a nationwide shortage of, I don't know, paper towels? Nails?
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One counterexample is surface mount capacitors: IIRC, there were three big companies making them, one decided to leave the market because the margins were too low, the other two are having trouble keeping with with demand.
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Are these technically challenging to make? Do they rely on a rare natural resource that only these companies have access to? (Sorry if these are basic questions, I don't know much about electronics)
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