The epiphany for me was those eye drops for reading would be so cheap if I could get it in bulk maximal strength and dilute to arrive at a specific concentration that changed a drug already used for completely unrelated (dry mouth or something) purposes at a slight difference in concentration apparently changes the fluid level in the eyes enough to compensate for age. I recalled all of the times a helpful pharmacist would change other types of prescriptions to avoid the expense of brand label fractional doses letting the patient substitute a common bulk variety and a pill cutter which becomes more difficult with fine granularity - this active ingredient/filler ratio for pills.
So I began to wonder what do they do when manufacturing processes produce more desirable chiralities - what happens to the remainder?
If there is some conspiracy it is probably related to manufacturing processes, bulk availability, and/or capacity for a pharmacy to behave like a custom apothecary, all of the liability that that would entail.. thus the expense of name brand pharmaceuticals?