A top executive of the Technical Health Insurance (TK), Jens Baas, has criticized the pharmaceutical industry. According to the Focus Money financial magazine, Baas stated that profit margins of 30 or 40 percent are “obscene”.
Baas emphasized that the costs of therapy for patients are in the five- to six-figure range and can even reach the seven-figure range. He criticized the profit margins as “extreme” and argued that the prices of essential medications should not be determined solely by supply and demand, as with luxury goods.
The pharmaceutical industry’s argument that high profit margins are necessary to fund research, with only a few medications becoming blockbusters, has not convinced Baas. He believes that the industry’s marketing expenses are higher than those for research at most companies and suggested that the pharmaceutical companies reduce their marketing efforts.
Baas emphasized that he is not against profit-making, but rather advocates for fair pricing and a more equal negotiation of prices between health insurance companies and pharmaceutical manufacturers. He criticized the industry’s threat to withhold life-saving medications from patients, saying that this is not a fair approach.
Baas also criticized Germany’s healthcare system, stating that it is one of the most expensive in the world, but the performance is only average. According to Baas, the country is at the top in terms of expenditure, but in terms of health indicators such as child mortality, cancer survival rates and life expectancy, Germany is in the middle of the pack in the European Union.