Depending on whom you ask, Alfred Engelberg could be a hero or a villain in the story of American pharmaceuticals. The patent lawyer helped write legislation that led to a dramatic increase in the number of generic drugs on the market. He also contributed to a patent system that gives pharmaceutical companies monopolies on their most lucrative drugs, blocking generic competition and keeping prices high along the way.
An Arm and a Leg host Dan Weissmann traces Engelberg’s story back more than 50 years, from a scrappy childhood on the Atlantic City boardwalk to watching President Ronald Reagan sign his bill into law at the White House Rose Garden. Today, Engelberg advocates for policy changes he believes will enable more generic drugs to reach the market faster.
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Transcript: Why drugs cost so much, 101: Medicine monopolies
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Dan: Hey there–
We are kicking off a new series here — We’re calling it An Arm and a Leg 101.
We’ve spent years of reporting on two huge questions: Why does health care cost so freaking much? And what can we maybe do about it?
We’ve been chasing answers one story, one question at a time.
Now, we’re pulling together some of what we’ve learned. Digging a little deeper, going a little broader.
Starting with why so many drugs cost so much.
One of the first questions I ever asked — one of our first stories — was: How can insulin be so expensive? Wasn’t it discovered in the early 20th century? Shouldn’t it be a generic drug by now?
You know, cheap?
And part of the answer I got was: Insulin has been transformed since the early 20th century. A lot.
A medical researcher named Jing Luo told me: Today’s insulins are a long way from what we had a hundred years ago.
Jing Luo: They’ve been really modified at a molecular level. It’s cool stuff. It’s super cool stuff. And you know, there are multiple Nobel prizes in physiology and medicine that have …