Would you believe it?!  We, the public, pay an estimated $3.5 billion per year for medicine because drug manufactures such as Merck pay other companies NOT to put generic drugs on the market.  Sounds like a monopolistic practice to me! See <a href=”http://www.politico.com/story/2012/12/supreme-court-generic-drugs-pay-for-delay-84810.html?hp=r9>politico.com’s article on this subject</a> For general context, see Joseph Stiglitz’s book, The Price of Inequality.