> For example — healthcare is heavily regulated, but veterinary care is lightly regulated. Both have experienced similar amounts of inflation over the past decade.
You forget indirect regulation. Veterinary drugs, veterinary education, and similar are quite regulated and expensive. So much so, that the average cost of vet school for in-state residents is over $200,000. Out-of-state, make it closer to $300K. The average cost of acquiring FDA approval of a new animal drug is $100 million and takes seven years.
If you call that "lightly regulated" I don't know what "heavy regulation" is. So, to be honest, I don't believe your comparison is accurate.
EDIT: This does depend on the estimate used (my first one was from https://www.veterinarypracticenews.com/efficacy-vs-cost/). Others say it is closer to $30 million for livestock and 9 years, but costs crossed $62 million in some cases (https://ahi.org/approval-and-regulation-of-animal-medicines/). It seems to depend on how broadly "animal" is defined and the type of drug in question, but it's all under FDA purview. Regardless of how it is defined, it doesn't fall in my view as being nearly as "lightly regulated" as implied.
You forget indirect regulation. Veterinary drugs, veterinary education, and similar are quite regulated and expensive. So much so, that the average cost of vet school for in-state residents is over $200,000. Out-of-state, make it closer to $300K. The average cost of acquiring FDA approval of a new animal drug is $100 million and takes seven years.
If you call that "lightly regulated" I don't know what "heavy regulation" is. So, to be honest, I don't believe your comparison is accurate.
EDIT: This does depend on the estimate used (my first one was from https://www.veterinarypracticenews.com/efficacy-vs-cost/). Others say it is closer to $30 million for livestock and 9 years, but costs crossed $62 million in some cases (https://ahi.org/approval-and-regulation-of-animal-medicines/). It seems to depend on how broadly "animal" is defined and the type of drug in question, but it's all under FDA purview. Regardless of how it is defined, it doesn't fall in my view as being nearly as "lightly regulated" as implied.