Over the years, I have written many articles on the drug companies and their insatiable greed manifested at the expense of we consumers.
Public Citizen, Health Research Group of Worst Pills, Best Pills publication, sent me a paper on the latest foul skullduggery executed by the drug companies, to shove the price of pharmaceuticals “to the moon”, showing no mercy for the critical negative impact it would have on the patients. Here it is:
According to Public Citizen, about 20 years after a brand name company files its patent on a new drug, generic companies can enter the market, typically cutting prices by two-thirds or more, but pharmaceutical companies can file lawsuits against generic companies in an attempt to delay market entry and make a few more billions.
Although there have been sporadic investigations and federal prosecutions of companies, many of these practices continue. One of the most deadly is one whereby the brand name companies literally pay the generic company millions of dollars not to manufacture the generic drug. How despicable can they get?
Their actions speak louder than words as money means more to them than humanity.
Raids conducted by European Union investigators on major pharmaceutical companies in Europe this year have found evidence that these companies are taking a page out of the U. S. playbook.
A new report based on these raids reveals that companies used both legal and illegal means to artificially extend their monopolies. These efforts cost taxpayers an estimated three billion Euros between 2003 and 2007.
One document obtained during the raids quotes a pharmaceutical employee as saying, “I suppose we all have had conversations around how can we block generic manufacturers.”
The European raids on manufacturers such as Pfizer, AstraZeneca, Sanofi-Aventis, and GlaxoSmithKline gave Europeans an edge in combating this swindling of the public. Such an aggressive approach would be valuable in the U. S., where the stakes for brand name drug companies are higher because, unlike Europe, there is no control over drug prices. The sky is the limit.
In summary, is it conceivable that Congress could devise and implement a powerful pharmaceutical ethics commission to serve as an investigative watchdog over these pernicious activities that are severely affecting all citizens.
Granted, we’re all aware that donations are given to Congressional candidates by pharmaceutical companies. Some time ago I wrote concerning the source of political donations and the amounts. However, present day Washington economic stimulus debates have disclosed that there are indeed politicians on both sides that will fight for what is right for their constituents, not for the politicos. We must write to them and implore them to take this critical issue and fight for us.
‘Also, conspicuous in their leadership capacity to achieving an equitable solution in this vital stimulus package are Senators Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe. Please contact them by telephone and write to them, requesting their help. They can and will do it. They are two wonderful people we can depend on.
(Dick Halverson lives in Newcastle)
