system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5: Why are products like light bulbs being made more efficient and longer lasting causing a company to profit less but medicine is doing almost the exact opposite by ignoring cheaper means of treatment and forcing consumers to pay higher prices for drugs that are less effective?
gpt
It's all about the power balance. Don't like the price of those light bulbs? You can buy a cheaper brand, or a cheaper type. Don't like the price of your medication? Well, tough luck kid, it's patented. Pay or die.

This is what is called "Inelastic demand". For products with inelastic demand, consumers will buy the pretty much the same amount regardless of price as long as they can afford it.

This creates scenarios where the producers are incentivized to raise the prices as high as they can, whereas with the light bulbs, other companies may undercut you, and the producer is incentivized to have the cheapest or best product in order to attract customers.