In these circumstances, the only reasonable procedure for a government to take is to warn pharmaceutical manufacturers that "if you do that then we'll instantly nationalize you without compensation."

Moreover, this ought to be enshrined in law.

What should be done is hard to say b/c of R&D angles about producing a more effective treatment. If the money is being put to R&D or even just enabling the company to scale manufacturing, I'm pretty okay with that.

Better than nationalization I think would be restrictions on executive compensation and dividends. Take away any personal upside from the decision-makers.

> If the money is being put to R&D or even just enabling the company to scale manufacturing, I'm pretty okay with that.

That makes sense. On the other hand, the government has deep pockets. They could buy the company, fund the R&D, and still keep the prices accessible.

In pandemics, this is what we want and need.

I’m also alive to all the ways in which these powers could lead to corruption and overreach in ordinary times. I oppose the Patriot Act and abhor the wars and states-of-emergency without-end. But I’m given to believe we are not in ordinary times.

It's tough to know where to draw the line. There are roundabout ways like loans, grants, tax breaks and a variety of other tools the government has without nationalization.

Buying the company seems a little too much to me but it is an emergency. I don't know enough about the details to know the right decision.

In California we’re under emergency price gouging restrictions. If you raise the price of something by more than 10%, you get fined and/or go to jail.

(That’s not what happened with this drug though. They previously rose the price, and lowered it back to the original price due to Coronavirus.)

The title is misleading.

The price hikes, however, came months before the coronavirus outbreak morphed into a global pandemic, and well before physicians and scientists came to believe chloroquine might prove an effective treatment.

In the past two weeks, Rising Pharmaceuticals slashed the price in half as interest in the drug erupted.

A false news title is worse than pharma companies jacking up prices.

Non paywalled source

"A drug maker recently doubled the price of chloroquine — but in response to the coronavirus pandemic, it’s cutting it in half" https://www.statnews.com/2020/03/19/a-drug-maker-recently-do...

In other words, the price was reset back to its original after the Covid outbreak was a known problem. This articles title is extremely misleading in that case

Yes, and more to the point, the doubling of the price appears to be before it was known (to the manufacturer) it was a potential treatment for COVID-19.