The latest poster child for cruel and inhuman drug pricing is Kaleo Pharma, maker of an emergency injector for a med called naloxone, which is used as an antidote to save the lives of people who overdose on painkillers. As America's opioid crisis reaches epidemic levels, Kaleo has jacked up the list price for its Evzio auto-injector by 600%, soaring from $690 several years ago to $4,500, according to lawmakers. Nearly three dozen senators wrote to Kaleo's chief executive, Spencer Williamson, last week to say they were deeply concerned" about the price hike and to note that it "threatens to price out families and communities that depend on naloxone to save lives." But that's not what caught my attention. Rather, I was struck by the company's answers to me about lawmakers' concerns. In response to emailed questions, Williamson said that although the list price for Evzio is more than $4,000, that's "not a true net price to anyone due to numerous discounts and rebates that are negotiated in the supply chain that make up our healthcare system." In other words, even though the price tag for his company's easy-to-use, lifesaving device is ridiculous and indefensible, there's no need to worry because backroom deals by assorted players in the healthcare food chain make that price tag meaningless. And that, in a nutshell, illustrates the lunacy of the U.S. healthcare system.