I’m not sure that medicine could ever be a poster child for the free market. It’s tightly regulated for good reason. Is there anywhere that has free market medicine? I’d like to read about it, but wouldn’t want to use such a system.
I can. I live in New Zealand. Medical practice here is plenty regulated and complying with these regulations is a meaningful percentage of my day job. Not all of it is worthwhile, lots is.
It doesn't clear up why you think a free market and regulations are opposites.
Take a small market store selling product A and product B. Whichever sells more at a given price wins more profit, great. Free market forces are at work. But then (anything goes, after all) the manufacture for A comes in and says to the store owner: if you sell product B we'll firebomb your market and kill your dog. So then the small market stops selling product B. Now, the small market only sells product A and at a huge markup.
Is product A actually better? Does the consumer win?
Regulations are necessary so the manufacture of A can't do that and make sure that the market is actually free.