Rampant, unrestrained capitalism is a menace to the health of our society. Case in point: the nation’s pharmaceutical industry, beset with ugly greed and now forcing us to re-think the necessity of governmental regulation.

Why? Well, if you take any medications, or if you’ve been reading about Big Pharma lately, you know exactly what the problem is. Let me give you a personal example. I used colchicine, a drug to help in reducing arthritic inflammation associated with gout. A prescription for 60 tablets cost me under $5. That was five years ago. Now, 30 tablets cost over $100 — if you can find them. The reason for the jump in costs? The producer decided the drug wasn’t generating enough income and dropped it; another producer stepped in and stepped the cost way, way up. The loser? Me, and others who found the drug helpful.

Much more appalling are the recent stories of patients who have discovered the cost of their life-savings drugs have increased more than 500% — or more. And using a generic over a brand-name drug hasn’t lessened the cost, either. And the reason is that drug companies are now driven by profits and profits only. Health care concerns for the companies no longer seem to exist.

This is totally irresponsible behavior and totally reprehensible. And there’s little to be done about it since there is no regulation for these companies on the ways they price their drugs. It’s a terrible situation not just for patients and their doctors, but also for the insurance companies who are required to include many of these greed-priced expensive drugs in their coverage.

The reactions to this, finally, are coming. Congressional investigations are on the horizon. There are proposals to change the way and up the ante when drug companies face fines for malfeasance and are sued by the government. These are probably worthwhile steps. But it is time for us to look seriously into the possibility of requiring governmental regulation of Big Pharma.

And yes, I know that the drug companies shout that any kind of regulation will mean they will be forced to shut down production because they won’t have enough money for research and distribution. And the response to that is, of course, baloney. The federal government already pays a mammoth chunk of the the money that goes to research at Big Pharma. And more importantly, I know that drug are too important a product to be left in the hands of people by Martin Shkreli, the smug bastard CEO of Turing Pharmaceuticals who has become, deservedly, the poster boy for the worst face of capitalism. (It’s not my words, but I note that a blogger recently noted that Shkreli is the best argument to be made for retaining the death penalty.)

Enough said. Let’s keep watching as see how actions unfold.