&gt; A free market for drugs makes sure that companies can recoup their investments and make a reasonable profit.<p>You know that patents make this pretty much the opposite of a free market to begin with right? You&#x27;re starting with a government-granted monopoly for a period of time, so any argument which claims this is a free market is really just the drug companies trying to get your sympathy.<p>&gt; Also, I don&#x27;t want to live in a place where the availability of a treatment is determined by some government committee that determines what the value of a month of my life is.<p>In countries which have universal health care, there is no decision on the availability of a drug. Just which ones are free or heavily subsidized. Generally you can choose to have the generic at an very cheap price, or you are free to pay (or hold private insurance) for the brand name drugs. In very rare circumstances there is no subsidized option for a particular drug, in which case, again, you are free to purchase it with your own money, or hold supplemental private insurance.<p>And absolutely you want the people in charge to determine the value of a year of quality life, when trying to maximize health outcomes for a certain budget. The only other option would be subsidizing drugs based on lobbying from the companies, which would be absurd.