Are We Being Too Harsh?

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I think there are, I mean, let's just talk about the good side of this whole system. The question boils down to what's the balance of efficiency and waste? You know, there is waste, these mediocre drugs or these drugs that may not add anything. Are we in the sweet spot or could we move to a sweeter spot? And I think that's really what we should be talking about. We're not close to it.remotely close to it," he says. "We've had Robin Feldman on the program talking about how generics are penalized"

Oncologist and epidemiologist Vinay Prasad argues that too many very expensive drugs get approved by the FDA that have very limited impact on the lives of patients. Prasad explains the incentives that distort the current system. The general problem, he explains to EconTalk host Russ Roberts, is the death of duty--too many players in the health care landscape and elsewhere stay quiet or do the wrong thing in order to serve themselves.