Big Pharma, Meet Big Media

[Boreas]

Originally Posted by piece-itpete

"...

It says the White House agreed to oppose any congressional efforts to use the government's leverage to bargain for lower drug prices or import drugs from Canada -- and also agreed not to pursue Medicare rebates or shift some drugs from Medicare Part B to Medicare Part D, which would cost Big Pharma billions in reduced reimbursements.

..."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/0..._n_258285.html

Pete

I know. A stupid attempt to mollify Republicans and the industry.

John

[noonereal]

Originally Posted by Boreas

I know. A stupid attempt to mollify Republicans and the industry.

John

Insane is a better interpretation I'd say.

[merrylander]

I am beginning to believe that it is the pharma wholsalers who are the problem. Here we have one drugstore selling a prescription drug at $500 while another sells it at $283 - and that is very, very close to the Canadian price. There is something rotten in the woodpile methinks.

[bhunter]

Originally Posted by noonereal

Even more common and without cost is to take two drugs with expired patents and put them in one and get a new patent. Doctors just go along and prescribe the new one instead of the two old ones.

That says quite a bit about our antiquated system of patents IMHO and its current lack of ability to distinguish between newness and lack thereof.

The Pharma industry, like all industries, has both good and bad actors; however, their ability to bring useful products to market has helped more than hindered IMHO. Furthermore, at some level virtually all technological advancement can be traced to seminal research at academic institutions. In Pharma, the big mistakes get publically aired and damage the industry's PR to a higher degree than in, say, the computer industry. I suspect that this is a result of the inherent stakes involved and our collective notion that medicine and health are different economically than other technological industries. That is, health and medicine appeal to our altruistic spirit and our concomitant notions of fairness and justice.

[bhunter]

Originally Posted by merrylander

Well there is some hanky panky going on with the middlemen (God that's all this country does - middlemen). Florence phoned the new Walgren's that opened about a year ago - same prescription the old drugstore wanted $500 for Walgren's will sell it to her for $283.

So it is not only the foreign Pharmas but our own countrymen screwing us. I guess I was right, this place does run on the Jack System.

Oops my error it is the new Wegmans that just opened here, not Walgren's

It's nice seeing the market work to lower the cost.

[wgrr]

Originally Posted by merrylander

Is it not farcical, you cannot advertise liquor but you can advertise drugs whoes side effects can be fatal.

The ban on advertising liquor is self imposed by the liquor industry. You will notice that they do advertise around the holidays.

[noonereal]

Originally Posted by bhunter

The Pharma industry, like all industries, has both good and bad actors; however, their ability to bring useful products to market has helped more than hindered IMHO. .

I wonder.

There is no data for us to have a definitive answer on this as big pharma is to efficient at dismissing all the deaths their products cause.

[wgrr]

Originally Posted by Boreas

While we're at it, we could amend Medicare Part D.

John

There are changes in Medicare part D in the ACA to close the donut hole. I doubt Medicare will be negotiating drug prices anytime soon because big pharma had to put their stamp of approval on the ACA just like the health insurance companies did. Otherwise they would have money bombed it out of existence with negative advertising.

[BlueStreak]

Originally Posted by d-ray657

I'm sure that there are lots of people who work for the drug companies that really want to improve people's lives. Many of them were probably started with that in mind. However, modern capitalism is such a corrupting influence that it can overwhelm the good that companies do. When the ultimate goal is maximizing profits, other laudable goals fall by the wayside. When the company places a priority on making a new patent rather than making a new drug, it is no longer in the business of improving lives, it is in the business of making money.

Regards,

D-Ray

Sounds sensible to me. Everyone works to make money. But, where do we cross the line from making good money from doing good things to making astonishing amounts of money by doing whatever it takes to get our hands on it?

Personally, I think all too many of us crossed that line long ago. The sad and disturbing part is that some of us seem to have decided that's the way it's supposed to be.

Dave