6 replies to this topic

[thismoment]

Only the USA and New Zealand allow direct-to-consumer ads by the pharmaceutical companies. And last year, BigPharma spent $5 Billion on this, and now the profits are rolling in faster than they can count them! The ads work.

 

Critics point out that a disproportionately small percentage of the ad time is spent detailing adverse effects and withdrawal issues (some 15-18% of the total ad time).

 

So, what's the problem with pharmaceutical companies selling antidepressants and other psychiatric drugs directly to the consumer? Is there a conflict? What are the hazards, and what are the benefits? Surely this is thesis material worthy of doctoral scholarship.

 

While I am a capitalist at heart, I don't believe that control of Health Care should be allowed to fall into the hands of those corporations whose only concern is profits. But that's what's happening.

 

There's a philosophical conflict-- On the one hand we have the pharmaceutical companies that are driven purely by the capitalist ideology (the set of ideas that includes goals, expectations, and actions that lead to profits). And on the other hand we have the practice of medicine that traditionally is ethics-based, often altruistic- and historically, profoundly compassionate. 

 

When the institution whose only motive is profits begins to dominate the ethics-based group, the ethics-based group will unravel: they will either move toward the profit side or they will be controlled into silence. 

 

What can be done?  Maybe get direct-to-consumer ads off TV.

 

Maybe government should have the power to keep the profit-takers from conquering the care-givers.

[fishinghat]

Thisment, you forgot....government has taken over health care and all is fine now (he said sarcastically).

[equuswoman]

Shame, shame, shame on them. The greedy money hungry b******s....Only wanting to make a profit. Not giving a flip what their "wonder" drug does to destroy patient's lives, brains and bodies. I hate the first brand name Eli Lilly 60 mg capsule I ever swallowed of this poison. I am so glad that I am no longer 'bead counting'....I thank God that I am FREE of that crap...well as free as one can be after religiously taking it EVERY night for 2 years. But I will carry on. I will do the best I can. Glad 2B here to help others who are seeking freedom from this poison....  TheEquusWoman

[thismoment]

Thisment, you forgot....government has taken over health care and all is fine now (he said sarcastically).

 

Haha! You're right! Maybe something could get done if the fearless leader would grow a pair!

[FiveNotions]

Nope, each one of us has to "grow a pair" ..... No other person or entity ...other than God Almighty ...... is ever going to look after us....not doctors, not big pharma, and sure to hell not government.... Thanks to obamacare, I lost my health insurance....fearless leader said "if you like your plan, you can keep your plan" .... Nope, nope, and nope.... I'll stop there, as we try not to get political here....

[thismoment]

You're right, in the final analysis we have to take care of ourselves.  Maybe Rand Paul will change it back next election.  And regarding the almighty, I was raised in a secular household and wasn't indoctrinated into religion as a child, so I don't think about that. 

I've heard that 'we' are the government, but I think that even for an abstraction, that's a stretch.

[xman]

Capitalism without rules. That is what I think has happened. The lobbyist are enormous!! Some of these scum bags don't play by the rules because they think they are above it all. What makes me smile is that a district judge has reversed a ruling (circa 1970s) regarding the disclosure of income by physicians.  This will be interesting.

 

Up until now they have whined and groaned about how the AFA (Affordable Care Act) has been taking all their money along with student loans etc., etc. Against their mighty AMA recommendations, the judge has seen fit to share the truth with the public.

 

I think it is fair to know how much profit is made by those who make a living on sick ppl. How much will change, who the heck knows. Obviously knowing the profit margins of the pharmcos does not seem to have an effect on the cost of, or discourage expensive drugs... And there's the issue that 33% of the USA's gross domestic product comes from health-care.

 

Yet on the other hand there is Kaleo: A privately held company that was founded by 2 brothers, one of which had to rely on an epi pen while growing up, in case of an allergic reaction. They have come out w/ a genius way to help save lives with a drug (narcan) that reverses opioids using an intelligent hand-held injector at home. It's exciting to me thinking of all the lives this will save--and inexpensively I might add. The Koch brothers could take a page from these brothers.