Gilbert Gutknecht: “Exactly. I am not going to argue about the special benefits, but the bottom line is we subsidize the development of new…”

“Exactly. I am not going to argue about the special benefits, but the bottom line is we subsidize the development of new drugs through the NIH, through the National Science Foundation, through the Department of Defense. They do a lot of research which ultimately leads to these miracle drugs. Finally, we subsidize them in the prices we pay. Now, my bottom line is I think Americans ought to pay. I think it is part of the American spirit. We believe in finding the new cures. It is something that makes us Americans. I think we ought to pay our fair share. I think it is the right thing to do; and, frankly, I think we ought to subsidize people in developing countries. I think we ought to pay more than the people in sub-Saharan Africa. I think we ought to pay more than the people in Bangladesh. I think we ought to pay more than some of the people around the world. But I think it is ridiculous that our own FDA makes Americans subsidize the starving Swiss. I think it is time for the Swiss, the Germans, the French, the Japanese, I think it is time for them to pay their fair share. I also think it is time for a much clearer account from the pharmaceutical industry of how much exactly do you spend developing a new drug? How much does it cost to get FDA approval? How much profit do you really make? There is a report, and I cannot confirm this, but the president and CEO of one of the pharmaceutical industries got $227 million in stock options. That was above and beyond his salary.”