In the early days of the coronavirus outbreak in the United States, Health and Human Services secretary Alex Azar sparked viral outrage. When asked at a congressional hearing about whether any potential COVID-19 vaccine would be made affordable to all, Azar refused to be drawn into a promise. “We would want to ensure that we work to make it affordable,” he replied, “but we can’t control that price, because we need the private sector to invest . . . Price controls won’t get us there.”

His answer was lambasted by commentators: Senator Bernie Sanders called it “an outrage,” and Representative Jan Schakowsky tweeted that Azar was “giving Big Pharma a blank check.” The Verge insisted the move “could put everyone’s health at risk.”

And yet, in the context of a system that relies on a profit-driven pharmaceutical industry to produce lifesaving drugs, Azar’s answer was relatively mundane. These companies’ business models are predicated on high prices and weak regulation, not altruism and the common good.