Mamamontezz's Mental Rumpus Room

Ok. Call me daft. The fact of the matter is, that US drug companies DO NOT spend gazillions of dollars on "researching" new drugs. In 2002, the median spent on researching new drugs by the top 10 American drug companies was about 14% of sales. When a drug company DOES bring an innovative drug to market, it's almost always funded publicly. In other words, by you and me. Not out of the drug companies' pockets.

Only 17 of the 78 drugs that were approved to enter the market in 2002 contained new chemical compounds, and the FDA classified only SEVEN of those as likely improvements over existing drugs. Oh, and not ONE of the seven came from a major American company. Nearly all of the 'new' drugs that are introduced each year are simply 'remakes' of existing drugs. They tweak the formula a bit and....voila! A "new" drug. It doesn't have to be shown to be an improvement over another drug to be approved by the FDA. It just has to do what it claims to do.
For instance, there are five almost identical statin (anti-cholesterol) drugs. Mevacor was the first. But, it's patent expired and it became available as generic lovastatin. Generics are cheaper than name brand, so the drug companies 'developed' Zocor and a couple others. They're all nearly identical, but of course, the name brands are MUCH more expensive.

The pharmaceutical industry has over 600 lobbyists in Washington. Because of their hefty campaign donations, they demand (and get) all kinds of favors, like the provision in the recent Medicare prescription drug benefit stating that Medicare would not bargain for lower prices. In essence, blackmailing the system and preventing Medicare recipients from getting drugs at lower prices.

In truth, the majority of US drug companies' budgets go to "education". In other words, marketing. Extravagant lunches for physicians offices, free samples, gifts and even trips for the docs, along with continuting medical education and conferences. Believe me, I've been the beneficiary of enough lunches to feed an army. I have at least 200 'freebies' in the form of pens, notepads, tote bags and other junk. All touting the "newest" drug, of course. And, all paid for out of your and my pockets in the form of high prescription costs.

Now, I'm not familiar with the Canadian pharmaceutical companies. I don't know what kind of guidelines they operate under. And frankly, I don't care. What I DO care about is that the majority of drugs that are shipped from Canadian pharmacies are made RIGHT HERE IN THE US but they're cheaper to buy in Canada. The Canadian companies sell...oh, let's say 40 mg Zocor tabs, a popular anti-cholesterol drug that I mentioned before...for $210 for 90 pills. Here in the good ole USA, it'll cost ya $404.99.

Maybe you don't mind paying an extra $194.99 for a drug...but, I'd much rather see that extra money in MY pocket than in the drug companies'.

Oh, and another thing. Mr. Johnson claims to be a medical researcher??
I think he needs to brush up on his skills. I'm sure no medical researcher, but I found all of my information easy enough.
He might be mildly amusing, but he's no researcher.

I think Pammy's paying too much for her hormones. I personally don't care what percent of profit is reinvested in R&D, and she conveniently leaves out the many failed drugs that never make it to market, a significant drain in human resources and capital for drug companies.
And why are drug companies the only industry not allowed to make a profit? Or codevelop a product with a federal agency? Or have lobbyists?

These companies save millions of lives a year in an extremely volatile business.

The fact is Canada caps prices on drugs, and the pharmos don't care because Canada is a secondary market. Their profits are made here. Buying drugs in/from Canada merely means you are making someone else keep the companies profitable. If you don't like drug companies making a profit stop buying their fucking products! Nobody's making you.

Nice statistics, by the way. What else you got up your ass?

Hmm..perhaps Velociman could use a few of those hormones that I'm paying too much for. Testy, isn't he? Must be a drug rep.

Did I SAY that drug companies shouldn't be allowed to make a profit? Did I SAY that drug companies shouldn't codevelop products with federal agencies? Did I SAY drug companies shouldn't be allowed lobbyists? No. I didn't say any of those things. Yes, US drug companies
save millions of lives a year. But, they only save the lives of those that can afford their products.

I don't have anything else up my ass, Mr. Velociman. But, I'll tell ya what. You can take a great big BITE out of it.

Nearly everything in Canada is subsidized by their government, wait until the Canadian citizens demand that their government quits subsidizing U.S. drug sales. In this panacea, they'll either dry up the supply or turn to third world providers for the compounds. How about it, get your hormones from, say Bophal,India, Karachi or maybe Mexico City, with no FDA restrictions, trial lawyers or environmentalists either.

Canada warned the United States on Wednesday that it would not be able to meet its prescription drug needs.http://olympics.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=healthNews&storyID=6775359

I don't recall asking for any backlip. Pammy, you certainly implied every one of those things. Just come out and say you want government subsidized drugs. It's really simple. Just say it. It's what you want.

Miracle drugs cost money. What's so hard to understand about that? And if you spread out your casserole with a little Alpo you'll be able to afford them. And stop telling me to bite you. It's unseemly, and unsanitary.

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