Two sides of (pretty much) the same number

About 22% of the drug industry revenue's gets reinvested into R&D, according to a new study. And the study’s authors, a group that represents pharma’s private-sector foes, say that's proof that the industry is “price-gouging American patients.”

But what would be a non-gouging figure?

As STAT’s Nicholas Florko points out, the industry is quite fond of saying that $1 out of $5 it makes goes back into research, a figure that pretty much squares with the one above. And pharma in general invests more in R&D than its peers in tech and energy.

That makes the latest report an example of the growing discord over what drugs and drug development are worth to society.

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