I don't think there is a simple explanation, that's why I used the word "morass".

"From when insulin is produced by the drug manufacturer to when it goes to a pharmacy, profit is extracted at every step of the way. The insulin market is dominated by three large drug manufacturers—Eli Lilly, Sanofi, and Novo Nordisk—that, with little competition, have raised their list prices in lockstep. But there are other players besides the Big Three that are contributing to the problem. Pharmacy benefit managers, or PBMs, contract with insurance carriers and act on behalf of the insurer to negotiate the price of insulin with the drug manufacturers. In negotiating the price, PBMs place a drug higher or lower on their tier of preferred drugs and receive rebates based on a percentage of the list price. This kind of system incentivizes high list prices, which determine the amount of co-insurance patients pay. And if patients have a high deductible or are uninsured, they might pay the entire list price."

https://medicine.yale.edu/news-article/the-price-of-insulin-...

My position is simply that it is better to solve problems by taking regulations away than piling them on.

lol did you actually read the quoted text? Because 0% of it backs up your argument

Low regulation means almost anyone can make it, almost anyone can sell it, almost anyone can buy it.

Government capture by big players who promote heavy regulation in order to eliminate smaller competition?

> Government capture by big players who promote heavy regulation in order to eliminate smaller competition?

This is a meaningless statement without specifics. It has absolutely nothing concrete in it that would actually inform someone about what drives insulin production. It's a wrong and overly simplifies.

Are you really saying the regulations regarding the actual production of insulin is what drives up costs? We've been manufacturing insulin for > 100 years now.

And can you find a single resource that agrees with your assessment?

When you say "big players", you mean the top 3 right? Would regulating monopolies in the pharmaceutical industry maybe be a good thing?

Why do other counties pay less if it costs so much to make? Why does regulation in the US make US consumers pay more but not Europe, for example?

Do you think PBM's have any part to play in this? What about over-zealous patents by the monopoly at the top?

Do you have any actual experience in this field or are you just parroting talking points?

I worked for a large company that did devices used in surgery. They regarded FDA regulation as a moat that kept out all but large, established competitors.

Note that I am not saying that they tried to push (or worse, capture) regulators to achieve that end. I'm just saying that they didn't mind.