Posted on 05/29/2010 8:34:04 AM PDT by lump in the melting pot
The world's leading supplier of the anti-diabetes drug insulin is withdrawing a state-of-the-art medication from Greece. Novo Nordisk, a Danish company, objects to a government decree ordering a 25% price cut in all medicines.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.bbc.co.uk ...
Particularly ironic is that it is a Danish company.
No insulin for you!
I’d hate to be a juvi diabetic in Greece!
It’s an interesting episode. You fix your economy....by ordering price cuts. Importers react...and say adios to selling on the economy. So, there are fifty thousand Greeks who use this insulin from the company in question.
You will have to buy it....via another country and I’m guessing you will pay twenty-percent mark-up to make this work, and an import tax (which Greece is famous for) will be involved.
So guess what...black market insulin will become popular...as fishermen run up to Italy...pick up a pallet of this stuff on ice...and come back to sell off the pier.
What a country!
Just one of those socialistic benefits coming our way soon...
Cute to watch - I guess there are limits in how low government can command pricing.
It amazes me still that governments thing they can reduce costs with decrees like King Canute facing the tides. At least Canute had the good sense to do it to show his limits to his people.
Governments can decree price roll-backs but they cannot force supply into existence.
Novo Nordisk shrugged...
“anti-diabetes drug insulin”?????????
Heh?
Unintended consequences...what a bitch!
They government should have decreed that blood sugar shall be lower, and then they wouldn't need the insulin.
"As an economist I realise the importance of making a profit, but healthcare is more than just the bottom line," he wrote.
There is nothing as infuriating as a bad economist. As an economist myself who also takes insulin four times a day, I'm aware that the only reason insulin is always there in the drugstores when I need it because someone is paying attention to "the bottom line."
Why those eeeevil, greeeedy CAPITALISTS!!! You mean they actually want to make a PROFIT?? Now that seems pretty damned unreasonable to me!!!
Thanks for your perspective. I can’t handle those who think everyone ELSE should give up his/her profit/incentive to satisfy their needs/wants.
Coming attractions for the USA.
After reading the article, I’m not sure what they mean by ‘state of the art.’ It looks like they are pulling their pen device (which I use). This is a more expensive way of delivering insulin, but not the only way. The old fashioned, and cheaper, syringe and vial work fine.
Now if they are removing all of their insulin products from Greece, that’s another matter.
Yep. Spain and Portugal, too......
The way I read the article, I believe you are correct - nobody should die in Greece from lack of insulin, they will just be inconvenienced with the old-fashioned delivery method.
In the article they say the drug company is making another product “free of charge”.
We all know it probably doesn’t work as well as the first drug, but they can’t operate at a loss.
Articles like this make you aware you just can’t deal with these people, that nothing will satisfy them. The co. can’t give away their product. They will go out of business.
When you are a hard core leftist, you don’t care that someone can’t afford it. Your entitlement is more important than anything else. This is good to keep in mind when dealing with leftists.
They will NEVER be satisfied. You can never deal out what they want, because they don’t care about you.
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