Essay Questions (20 marks):

Policy prescriptions. List the costs and benefits of the following hypothetical policies.

(a)The N.Z. government offers a $5 billion prize to the first drug company that develops a cure for Alzheimer's disease.

(b)The patent length for drugs to treat fatal diseases is reduced to five years, and all current patents for such drugs that are already more than five years old instantly expire.

(c)The European Medicines Agency announces that it will instantly ap- prove new drug applications that have shown any promise in treating Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (also known as mad cow disease), even if there are safety concerns or if the evidence of efficacy is not conclusive.

(d)The U.S. government allows patients to write themselves prescriptions on weekends, when physicians are typically not available.