US pharma companies have marketing budgets as big as their research ones.
Yes, the drug and insurance companies love to press the cost of litigation.
Capping the amount paid out in tort litigation is a stupid idea, unless you also cap the amount drugs cost.
If you want a fair system, eliminate jury awards from civil cases. Let a professional decide how much the drug and insurance companies should pay. You'll then still have the large awards in cases of gross negligence and criminal culpability: after all, as has already been pointed out, the window for a drug during which they can rape the market with their monopoly is 5-7 years. There's tremendous pressure in pharma corps to get their products to market, and not to run into any snafus with say the FDA. People can and do try to "Bend the rules" from time to time. If they do, they should be crucified.
I'm sorry, I've got no sympathy for the poor ailing drug and insurance companies in this country. The argument that unless we ensure a healthy profit to drug companies, our basic health needs will suffer is perverse: we're already ensuring a healthy profit, drug and health costs are skyrocketing, and the blame is being put on tort laws?
From what I've seen in the last four years, the Government running the Health Care Business is a hell of a lot better idea than the Health Care Business running the Government.
Although, to be honest, we need to reform the greedy lot of both.