Re: CANADIAN DRUGS AREN'T THE CURE

From: GMCarter (fiar_at_verizon.net)
Date: 08/24/04 

Date: Tue, 24 Aug 2004 10:39:25 GMT

On Mon, 23 Aug 2004 11:11:31 -0700, "Robert" <RobertJ@hotmail.com>
wrote:

>
>"magnulus" <magnulus@bellsouth.net> wrote in message
>news:ExlWc.92$cx.25@bignews4.bellsouth.net...
>> Sounds like Big Pharma is engaged in racketeering. IMO, the US
>> government should punish these companies: seize the patents on the drugs
>and
>> make them available as generics. If these CEO's protest, then the
>> government should press charges under the RICO Act.
>>
>>
>Seize the patents? Why not seize the companies also. That is why I say that
>a single socialistic system can not stand. Go for it. In the long run it
>will prove very cheap as new drugs will not be developed and thus the cost
>will indeed be controlled. You will get a very cheap system like Cuba.

Oh, Robert, nonsense.

First of all, the pipelines of big pharma have constricted
dramatically. Innovation is actually DETERIORATING as the thicket of
patents gets so dense that upstream and downstream discovery and the
need for paying outrageous licensing fees has curtailed research;
Gilead recently dumped a hep C drug due to this.

What few drugs are out there are often times no better than older
generics but huge sums are spent on propaganda, seductive, etc., and
people are prescribed WAY overpriced garbage.

Then they inflate ridiculously the cost to bring a drug to market.

The CURRENT system is completely fucked. But you, like knee-jerk right
wing extremists everywhere, can only see "eliminate it" as the answer.
In this case, suggesting that we will turn into Cuba--darling, I have
news. Cuba has some pretty interesting medical research going on
DESPITE the significant limitations, many in place due to the US
embargo. I am neither supporting nor defending Cuba per se, but it is
a stupid example for a poorly thought out idea.

The United States is much larger, much wealthier. We can afford to
have more publicly funded research from the test tube through phase
III/IV. We can afford to have a single payer healthcare system
(indeed, we'd probably spend LESS than 14% GDP). We could have a
system that incorporates nutritional and botanical medicinal
approaches which may work as well to manage many conditions more
safely, ranging from diabetes and cholesterol management to chronic
hepatitis and drug side effects.

We could have a smart, compassionate and economically viable system
but for the greed, arrogance and stupidity of a very few.

                George M. Carter

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