GW Pharmaceuticals Plc ADS (GWPH)

[lesgetrich]

Do you think that US insurance companies don't take the same considerations into mind when they construct their formularies? Dream on. No insurance company will pay more for a drug if a similar drug with essentially the same effect is available. That's one of the functions of tiered formularies. They'll cover the same amount for similar drugs. If the patient wants to pay the difference for a drug on a higher tier, they can. But doctors soon catch on and stop prescribing it or drugstores will recommend a switch to a generic. The British system is just more effecient at weeding out waste and redundancy.

You're arguing that people should overpay for their drugs to encourage companies to develop new ones. As a shareholder I'm tempted to chear you on but as a potential patient and taxpayer I'd rather see the company charge a fair price for it's products and let responsible government agencies do more to encourage development of new drugs with grants and subsidies.