The Opioid Crisis: Another Example of the High Cost of Protectionism

A Washington Post editorial praised Ohio's decision to sue pharmaceutical companies for promoting opioid pain medication.The claim being made in the suit is that the companies minimized the risk of addiction in order to increase their market.

Incredibly, the piece does not mention the protectionism that gives these drug companies the incentive to push their drugs for improper uses. Government-granted patent monopolies allow the companies to sell their drugs for twenty, thirty, or forty times...