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> Drugs are way more expensive in the US than most other countries. Big pharma companies make nearly all of their profits in the US.

I wonder how sustainable this is. If the US imposed the same regulations on drug makers that the EU does, would there be a material effect on quantity or quality of drugs available across the entire globe? To what extent is the US subsidizing the low cost other countries like to brag about?

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Most of the work of drug discovery is not done by the pharma companies, it's done by publicly-funded research labs. What big pharma pays for is the elaborate (and very large) clinical trials which are required by the FDA before a drug can be sold.

One simple change the US could make is to direct the FDA to fast-track approval for drugs that have been approved in other countries the US considers to have high enough standards of rigour, such as the EU or Canada.

> To what extent is the US subsidizing the low cost other countries like to brag about?

None whatsoever. It's preposterous to even consider it in a serious manner.

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