Posted on 05/06/2018 4:48:11 PM PDT by Theoria
In his State of the Union address in January and again in New Hampshire in March, President Trump made a bold promise: “You’ll be seeing drug prices falling very substantially in the not-too-distant future,” he said, “and it’s going to be beautiful.”
Not if the pharmaceutical companies can stop it.
Big Pharma is pouring money into a lobbying campaign to thwart any serious efforts to rein in prescription drug prices ahead of a presidential speech this month where Mr. Trump plans to lay out his drug pricing proposals.
“There is apprehension across the industry,” said Bruce Artim, who retired recently after 11 years as the director of federal affairs at Eli Lilly and Company. “Pharma folks are nervous.”
Drugmakers spent $171.5 million lobbying the federal government last year — more than insurance, electronics, oil and gas or any other industry, according to data compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics, an independent group that tracks money in politics.
Spending by the main lobby for the industry, the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, surged in the first quarter of this year, to $10 million, up from $8 million in the first quarter of last year and $6 million in the first quarter of 2016, the trade association said in reports filed with Congress. Its spending is on pace to top the annual totals it reported in recent years, $25.4 million in 2017 and $19.6 million in 2016.
Drug companies and their trade associations deployed 882 lobbyists last year, more than two-thirds of whom had previously worked for Congress or federal agencies, the center said.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Big Pharma has to be one of the biggest lobby with the most politicians in its pocket based on how they NEVER get any pricing slashed verses how EVERYONE else does (except of course the politicians’ and their benefits and salaries.
I would say Big Pharma maybe helping to finance Deep State
This will be interesting. A lot of drugs, especially antibiotics, are made and imported from China into the United States.
I assume the New York Times is rooting for Big Pharma.
Along with Hillary and the Kenyan.
ML/NJ
Recently there was story about a some little girls in Wales who need access to a very expensive drug. I was intrigued and did a little research into the company and the pricing. A little digging found some quotes by some the big wheels at the firm. Their quotes boil down to this: "price doesn't matter because the consumer isn't paying it; the insurance companies are footing the bill."
Of course we all know this is socialist logic. Of course the consumer pays, one way or the other! Insurance companies don't print money.
There is no incentive for Big Pharma to keep prices down if they can buck prices to some nebulous unaccountable entity in the background. They bypass the free market by essentially eliminating the end user from free market negotiations.
Congress, the lobbyists, and Big Pharma have created a system of corporate socialism where every apparatchik gets a cut of the action.
Oddly enough, these are all of them symptoms of the metabolic syndrome, along with insulin resistance.
But what the medical establishment refuses to acknowledge is these aren't symptoms that are often found with insulin resistance, these are the symptoms of insulin resistance.
And the reason establishment refuses to acknowledge this is that while Big Pharma makes billions on drugs to treat these symptoms, they have no drug that treats the underlying cause.
And that is because the only treatment for insulin resistance is carbohydrate restriction. And nobody knows how to make money from that.
What we really need isn't less expensive drugs that treat symptoms able ignoring the cause, we need to get the medical establishment to admit the truth.
I’m no expert but I nevertheless believe that “Big Pharma” is the biggest bankroller of the “Never Trump” establishment ergo they are the Chairman of the Board of “The Deep State Incorporated”.
The President is Obama. Officers are G.H.W. Bush, George W. Bush, Jeb Bush, Rosenstein, Clapper, Brennan, Comey, Clintons, Ryan, McConnell, Corker, McCabe, McCain, Wray, Lindsey Graham, Kasich, Corporate Media Exec’s, Pelosi, Schiff, Schumer and I’m sure I’m missing dozens.
The stockholders are the Democratic Party.
And that is because the only treatment for insulin resistance is carbohydrate restriction. And nobody knows how to make money from that.
**********
And the American Diabetes Associations recommended diet has high carbs... https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIma2WOQs1Mz2AuOt6wRSUw
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3w193M5tYPJqF0Hi-7U-2g
The ENTIRE SYSTEM needs to change...if even possible.
The way it works now is that the drug companies spend billions to develop a new drug and get it to market. They get a patent on it, so EVERYONE in the world now knows the formulation. The other countries, starting with Canada and ending with Zaire, or whatever, simply say to our companies: “You sell it us at production cost (or near cost), or we’ll just make it locally”. The drug companies fold, and that’s why drugs are cheap in other countries, much cheaper.
...but they still have to recover their capital costs for the development. Where do they do that? One guess.
So, we can pull the plug on their pricing, and force them to charge closer to cost...but is that good?
I have mixed feelings, as it seems every wonder drug ends up getting people sick and/or killing them, even though all their claimed research says they’re safe, with Statins being my pet peeve. Virtually no adverse reactions for Statins, per the literature, but virtually everyone who uses them (me included) claims adverse reactions, with Cataracts and Diabetes now, finally, being disclosed as side effects.
But in the end, if the US pays ‘world prices’, we’ll be locked in to our present selection of drugs, for development will cease - unless we find another way to protect their product outside of the patent system (maybe secret patents?). This particularly worries me regarding antibiotics, as we’re almost out of options now, with the bugs being able to resist just about everything we hit them with.
Cut the term for drug patents to three years.
“But what the medical establishment refuses to acknowledge is these aren’t symptoms that are often found with insulin resistance, these are the symptoms of insulin resistance.”
Watch it, pal. Telling the truth on something like this will get you the Seth Rich treatment...at least if you’re a credible source. Obviously here, no one has any credibility, so you’re safe, but I do think that many, many, professionals (although still a small minority), know the truth, but are worried about how their kids will pay for college, after, for example, a barbell lands on their throat.
But, sadly, most professions are so STUCK UP that they won’t even consider the truth, if it hit them straight in the head. My doctor wanted to debate Statins with me. I knew it would be a waste of time and told him that if he didn’t give me my blood pressure drugs, I was through with him. He yielded. Not just doctors, ‘educators’ are probably even worse and more arrogant...tell them that you’re teaching your kids phonics and you’re likely to get a CPS Investigation opened up on you.
BOOM!
"How to reverse type 2 diabetes – the quick start guide" By Dr. Jason Fung
This misses a big, big point. The US patent system is vastly different from the patent system in the British commonwealth (which is still a huge group of countries.)
In the US it is possible to patent a chemical, i.e. the drug itself is patented. In the British Commonwealth it is only possible to patent a specific method for making a chemical. Almost as soon as a new drug is patented, a lot of people look over the synthesis route to make that drug and try to find a different way of making the same chemical.
As soon as an alternative route is discovered, the company that does it patents that method, and now they are free to compete with the original company. But not in the US, where the patent is on the chemical and not on how to make it. If a third method can be found, there is even more competition. In general this is why prescription drug prices are lower in the rest of the world.
For those of us who take regular medication paid by an insurer, take a look at your mail order prescriptions. They are primarily from India, a commonwealth country with a large chemical industry. And, a low cost country.
Best government money can buy. Voted for by the sheeple and paid for and owned by K street lobbyists and the minor neighbors.
It isn’t just stormy daniels that is a whore. The senate and house office buildings are full of them.
Peeks behind the curtain suggest that merely profaning carbs can cripple insulin resistance. Other research suggests that periodic fasting for up to a week can reset the cells and cripple insulin resistance for long periods of time.
It is a hard thing to do but renders significant benefits.
Wrong, wrong, wrong. Stop posting BS.
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