Try a 5,000% Price Increase.

Prescription drug costs are cheaper in many other countries than they are in America. In fact, one study shows that for the 40 most commonly prescribed drugs, prices in America are highest 93% of the time.

The United States, which leaves pricing to market competition, has higher drug prices than other countries where governments directly or indirectly control medicine costs.

One example of highly expensive drug costs has been in the news lately. Martin Shkreli, CEO of Turing Pharmaceuticals, recently bought the rights to a drug used in treatments for parasitic infections. This drug, Daraprim, is critical to the ongoing battle against HIV. His company increased the price from $13.50 per pill to $750 per pill – a 5,000% percent increase in its price.

Shkreli claimed that the old price would cause any company to actually lose money. He reports that by increasing the price, he could create enough profit to fund more research.