Economy

60 Minutes Just Exposed How Drug Prices are Literally Killing People

October 11th 2014

You may have heard before that America spends more on medical costs than any other nation. Currently, 18 percent of our GDP (all the money spent by Americans in a given year) goes to health care. But what many overlook is that spending more on medicine doesn’t always lead to better results. In fact, according to a Bloomberg data analysis, the United States ranks #46 (out of 48 countries surveyed) in health care outcomes.

Ironically, because medicine costs so much in America, millions of Americans cannot afford their co-pays and insurance premiums, foregoing treatment in fear of going broke. A variety of data indicates that more than 50 percent of all bankruptcies in the United States are due to medical bills. 

In the latest episode of 60 Minutes, Leslie Stahl investigated the astronomical prices of cancer drugs, which can cost more than $100,000 per year. As Dr. Leonard Saltz, an oncologist at Sloane Kettering says, "people's fear and anxieties are being taken advantage of." 

To learn more about this exploitation as well as the sinister price fixing of drug companies, watch this video:

Regardless of how miraculous any cancer drug may truly prove, Dr. Hagop Kantarjian at the University of Texas puts it best: "the only drug that works is a drug that a patient can afford."

To learn more about why US health care costs are so high, click here, and watch this video: