Experts in autocracies have pointed out that it is, unfortunately, easy to slip into normalizing the tyrant, hence it is important to hang on to outrage. These incidents which seem to call for the efforts of the Greek Furies (Erinyes) to come and deal with them will, I hope, help with that. As a reminder, though no one really knows how many there were supposed to be, the three names we have are Alecto, Megaera, and Tisiphone. These roughly translate as “unceasing,” “grudging,” and “vengeful destruction.”
Those working in the pharmaceutical industry have known (and the rest of us have suspected) for some time that the industry has no interest in people being well. But it is still surprising when someone in the loop (in this case Goldman Sachs, representing major investors) comes out and admits it.
A report released by Goldman Sachs April 10 titled “The Human Genome” contains this:
The potential to deliver ‘one shot cures’ is one of the most attractive aspects of gene
therapy, genetically-engineered cell therapy and gene editing. However, such treatments offer a very different outlook with regard to recurring revenue versus chronic therapies…. While this proposition carries tremendous value for patients and society, it could represent a challenge for genome medicine developers looking for sustained cash flow.
Look at Hepatitis C, the report continues. It is now possible to cure hepatitis C. But the poor, 
persecuted pharma company that owns that cure has not only “exhausted the available pool of treatable patients,” but even (gasp![gasp mine]) “also decrease[d] the number of carriers able to transmit the virus to new patients….”
Who in the world thinks like that? No, don’t answer, I know the answer.
This issue is all bound up with the issue of who does scientific research, and particularly in the medical field. We all know that Democrats want the government doing medical research, because government’s purpose is the welfare of its citizens. And Republicans want private industry doing medical research, because private industry’s purpose is the payoff to its stockholders. In fact, the cuts proposed by the current regime last year to government research were so paralyzing that even Republicans could not stomach them.
You might think that if government scientists were to concentrate on research leading to cures, that private industry might be happy doing research which would lead to more and better maintenance and palliative medications and treatments, which certainly do have a place in medicine … as I’m sure everyone in my age group will agree. But you would be wrong. Republicans are never happy unless they (by which of course I mean their donors) own EVERYTHING.
I am too exhausted (and too angry) to go on very long today. But I hope readers will click through and check out the comment section. Some very witty people post there. One commenter, “Thoman A Paine,” says –
Doc gave me a prescription for Viagra, 30 tabs, went to CVS, pharmacist says “That
will be $1,000.” I says, “What? That’s crazy.” I thought she was kidding, but, checked it out online, she wasn’t, the major pharmacies charge $28-$32 per tab and most insurance doesn’t cover it.
So, being of sound mind, I googled “cheap viagra” and got it on line for $1 per tab, ships from London, it’s OTC and cheap in the UK, but the FDA rules give Pfizer and one other company a near-monopoly in the US so they can charge 30 times as much as the Brits pay.
Farther down the page, after a lengthy discussion of ownership, generics, what the drug may be prescribed for (besides what you’re thinking), insurance, capitalism, fascism, socialism, corporate welfare, and trickledown, there is a response from “ghost7”:
That`s a stiff price, they have a real hard on for profits.
Alecto, Megaera, Tisiphone, there is no point in going after Big Pharma here, unless perhaps in the persons of their lobbyists. They are carrying out their mission of enrichment. The people who are NOT carrying out their mission of public welfare are the people of the current regime. Putting the fear of – well, anything except big donors actually – is probably not possible. Focus on getting them diselected and replaced with human beings. Thanks, ladies.
The Furies and I will be back.
Cross posted to Care2 HERE.
19 Responses to “Everyday Erinyes #119”
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The drug companies and big pharma are corrupt beyond belief. The .FDA was once a highly respectable government organization has now been taken over by drug company shills. The shills have bastardized the FDA rules for safety and regulations, testing. They are now passing drugs, medications with few oversights. And charging ridiculously high prices to ensure that they can make a huge profit from the people who need them.
Case in point on a personal level here:
A close family member has an autoimmune disorder in which immune system cells and antibodies primarily attack the optic nerves and the spinal cord, but may also attack the brain. In her case, it started with her eyes, and progressed into lesions on her brain, and spinal cord. She has had this for about 7 years now.
Seeing (and feeling first-hand of how this is), in her case, let’s go with her expenses in order for her to take these meds. One med is (oral) $49.00. Second one is (oral) $382.00. The last one (intravenous) is administered outpatient with 2 visits, about $952 each. Which I might add, in the case of the last med, it costs the manufacturer $300 to make, test, and ship the drug.
I agree with Jim’s assessment re: big pharma, and it’s not going to get any better for the future either. Sadly.
Unfortunately, what about the millions needing meds, and who can’t afford to pay, to LIVE? Such a tragedy!
**One thing to also note, she is in remission from her disease, and her doctor gives her hi-5’s for a good report on her last visit. She is now vegan, and her lesions are almost all gone. PTL !!
Furies, Get someone in there who IS human, and has a Heart!
Thanks, Joanne for post.
Let food be your medicine, and medicine be your food. Look to Nature for treatments and cures as much as possible. Turn to drugs only as a last resort.
Do not forget that Big Pharma includes Perdue Pharmaceutics, of Stamford, Conn., which is single handedly responsible for the Opioid epidemic. The philanthropic family that has owned it, for decades, is happy to donate, big, time with one made in the process of destroying other people’s lives.
While heaven knows there are a lot of things about Big Pharma to dislike, my point was that they no longer WANT anyone to be CURED, because a cured customer is a lost customer. They want all of us to have incurable conditions, because that customer is a paying customer forever. And they have now ADMITTED this. IN WRITING.
Heck,if you can keep everyone paying forever, you may not even need to overcharge (but they will.)
As long as Republicans hold sway in the US, profits will always take priority over people. US healthcare IMO is an abomination and a misnomer.
Goldman Sachs report on the Human Genome certainly makes clear what is valued.
“While this proposition carries tremendous value for patients and society, it could represent a challenge for genome medicine developers looking for sustained cash flow.”
There is no one perfect healthcare system, but in a system where profits come before people, it is clear that the US system is totally undesirable
I can assure you Big Pharma and its never ending greed is a scourge all over the globe and has been for as long as those Pharmaceutical Companies have existed and that is for a very long time. Take Bayer A.G. for instance, which was founded in 1893 and best known for Aspirin, i.e. acetylsalicylic acid (originally discovered by French chemist Charles Frederic Gerhardt in 1853). By 1899, Bayer’s trademark Aspirin was registered worldwide, but “Aspirin” lost its trademark status in the United States, France, and the United Kingdom later on. Note that it still holds those trademark rights most everywhere else, which is why the Dutch have to pay 3-4 times as much for over-the-counter acetylsalicylic acid than Aussies do. As a painkiller it has been surpassed by other drugs, but new research has brought Aspirin back in favor as a preventive of heart disease and all kinds of cancers, notably breast cancer, when taken daily in a small (junior) dosage. That caused Aspirin sales to soar again for Bayer and though it is a relatively cheap medication, selling it for 3 to 4 times the price of generic acetylsalicylic acid – on which the industry manages to make a profit – has assured Bayer of a steady income for which it has to do absolutely nothing other than secure its monopolies.
The Dutch healthcare system is struggling with the same problems with Big Pharma demanding exorbitant prices, especially when it comes to effective medication for rather rare diseases. Only recently a Dutch hospital challenges big pharma by making own version of very pricey licenced drug to treat a rare metabolic disorder because the medicine is no longer covered by health insurance after the price shot up.
The drug, chenodeoxycholic acid or CDCA is produced by Italian pharmaceuticals company Leadiant. On April 1, the company ramped up the price by around 500% so it now costs some €200,000 per patient per year. The hospital can produce the drug for €25,000. Just 60 patients in the Netherlands suffer from the disease CTX which the drug is used to treat. The drug has been available since the 1970s but Leadiant only registered it as an orphan medicine with the European medicines agency last year. Orphan status, given to drugs which are used to treat very specific and rare illnesses, means a drug cannot be copied for a 10-year period. There is a loophole, however: a pharmacist can make the drug for their own patients. And even though the AMC only has two patients, anyone can now register at the AMC pharmacy with a doctor’s prescription.
Sometimes there is a small loophole like that when only a few patients are involved, but in other cases Big Pharma is rather killing some of the patients than foregoing a huge profit and nothing can be done against it. I’m afraid the global task of changing this is too much for the Furies alone to handle.
Great job, JD!
Who would think that way? Big Pharma and their Republican lackeys. ?
Dang! If I buy from the Brits, I can vacation at Viagra Falls.
Thanks Boss. Don’t overdo it on that vacation, though. LOL!
If it gets too hard, I’ll come home.
“….because government’s purpose is the welfare of its citizens.”
Is that why they murdered over 250 million of their own citizens in the past century?
Nice to see a new face (well, so to speak.) Keep coming.
Another new face! Welcome.
Though your link refers to Canada, I’m sure the same is true in the States. I’d love to see another, similar study done here.
JD, FYI, I changed S’toon to spam, because he put ‘noneofyourbusiness’ in the email address field. We need to check new email addresses for validity.
Oh, thanks. It’s too bad in a way, because the article was pertinent, though not about the US.
I know. But I learned the hard way that not having an email address can be problematic.
Oh, I wasn’t arguing. And if I really cared that much about the link I could have found it and posted it myself..
I didn’t think you were.