Numerous Dems join GOP to be Big Pharma stooges

[MongGrel]

There's going to be a one man war in Washington against the lobbyists and mega donor elites over the next four years alright, except it won't be coming from the White House.

The White House been busy setting up Consulting Firms and figuring out ways to restrict Lobbyists.

Same thing, but different rules.

Follows the Putin mold of Government, is how he has maintained power in Russia. He just changed his title when his first couple terms were up, and stayed in power.

Why I used to joke that Dubya was envious of Putin because he could not pull the same trick. It's not much of a joke these days.

Just change the name of the position, alter the rules, and you maintain control.

 

[WelshBloke]

Big pharma is busines first.

They want young people afflicted with disease so they can profit for the duration of the person's life. Think about a 30 something who has type 2 diabetes. That one person will be dependent on their diabetes medication for life. That's 40 plus years barring early death. They don't want you healthy. They want everyone on meds.

I dont think it works that way.

I know plenty of people in "Big Pharma" and they are all doing good work trying to solve problems that people have. Its not their job to convince you to be healthy. That your job.

They could stop producing insulin now, but I really dont think that it would help out that 30 year old with diabetes.

 

[WelshBloke]

No doubt. The fact is NJ is an expensive state to live in. So, pretty much every thing else is going to cost more. It's still sad to think that the cost of health care is skyrocketing in America. Much of this has to do with the greed.

I dunno. Taking your example something in NJ is 3 times the price of something in Thailand. Not knowing exactly how the cost of living and other overheads adds in I'd say that sounds about right.

 

[blankslate]

These corporate cocksucking "democrats" are representative of the SHillary wing of the the party...

It's the truth and everyone knows it!

 

[ivwshane]

I'm really disappointed with booker on this one. I haven't heard his reasoning on this but apparently his district is full of big pharma.

As a supposedly up and comer in the Democratic party, this vote doesn't look good for him.

 

[Fanatical Meat]

One point to note:

All but 8 or 9 Republican Senators voted it down

 

[Jaskalas]

I'm really disappointed with booker on this one. I haven't heard his reasoning on this but apparently his district is full of big pharma.

As a supposedly up and comer in the Democratic party, this vote doesn't look good for him.

Huffpo isn't happy either.

Cory Booker Chooses Wall Street Over Main Street
​

How foretelling:

I have no idea who some of the rising stars of the Dems are around the country in various positions of power. The only one I know of is the young senator from my state, Cory Booker. I just don't like his heavy ties to Wall Street.

 

[feralkid]

One point to note:

All but 8 or 9 Republican Senators voted it down

Yes, thread title is completely misleading.

 

[trenchfoot]

Huffpo isn't happy either.

Cory Booker Chooses Wall Street Over Main Street
​

How foretelling:

Thanks for the link.

So it looks like Sanders' legislation will be given a second chance. The horse trading between those Dems who are beholden to Big Pharma and the rest of the Dem caucus should be really nasty, given how exposed and vulnerable these Pharma owned Dems have become now that the news of their killing the bill is all over the media.

Still, there's a sliver of hope to cling to, but it will require the Repubs to hold the line to get it done. Meaning, more concessions from the Dems to keep things from changing on the Repub side of the aisle.

This exposure of some Dems being compromised by their allegiance to their corporate sponsors is a good thing. The voters can now decide whether to hold these politicians accountable for their actions.

 

[Atreus21]

Looks like this issue goes all the way back to the turn of the century.

And the same (supposed) issue always kills it: safety.

 

[Double Trouble]

Yes, thread title is completely misleading.

I agree, the thread title is misleading. A small number of democrats voted against, but that's not what killed the bill. What killed the bill were the 52 mostly republicans that voted no.

The supposed safety concerns they always bring out for this issue is plain bullshit. I don't see how anyone can even argue that one with a straight face at this point.

 

[Sonikku]

When I was in Thailand my health care was very good. And, it was cheap which is sad.

I had a tooth that was giving me a ton of issues when I arrived in Bangkok. I first went to the hospital at 2am. I was seen immediately and totsl cost was $30 USD. Pain meds were like $5 and the best part is their pharmacy is in the hospital. I didn't have to wait till the next day because they were closed. I got serviced immediately.

My tooth was still bothering me so I went to the dentist with my girlfriend. I had my teeth cleaned for $25 USD. When they found the issue I was told I needed root canal. This same procedure in NJ would have cost $1,200. That's crown and all the work. In Thailand, the same exact procedure cost $400 USD. The same exact procedure.

I need to get Thailand!

For reasons. >.>

 

[1prophet]

I agree, the thread title is misleading. A small number of democrats voted against, but that's not what killed the bill. What killed the bill were the 52 mostly republicans that voted no.

The supposed safety concerns they always bring out for this issue is plain bullshit. I don't see how anyone can even argue that one with a straight face at this point.

So why would 13 democrats put themselves on the record in such a bad way when they could have let the republicans own this one ACA style?

 

[theeedude]

Sorry, fellow Americans, Canada negotiated those drug price deals for Canadians, we have to man up and negotiate our own, not mooch off theirs. If this law passed, big pharma would just jack up Canadian drug prices.

 

[Sonikku]

I think it's high time America stopped being the almost sole provider of R and D in drugs. The whole world wants all the fruits but are only willing to kick in paltry token amounts for the labor.

 

[theeedude]

I think it's high time America stopped being the almost sole provider of R and D in drugs. The whole world wants all the fruits but are only willing to kick in paltry token amounts for the labor.

Pharma is jacking up prices for old drugs for which there is no new R&D going on, so you are not paying for R&D, you are paying for profit and promotional budgets.
The rest of the world just takes care of their people. Our Republican Congress writes drug companies blank checks.

 

[mikeymikec]

So why would 13 democrats put themselves on the record in such a bad way when they could have let the republicans own this one ACA style?

Probably because their votes had been already paid for by lobbyists.

 

[soulcougher73]

Nice going Dems. You even had some GOP support on this and you killed it. Idiots.

 

[glenn1]

Glad to see the party who loves regulation is OK with no regulation when it comes to drugs. Canada doesn't have an equivalent to our FDA (they rely on the U.S. service to do the work for them) so there would be no quality control or safety inspections on Canadian sourced drugs. While I have nothing against Canada this is the wrong approach to reducing drug costs in the U.S. Reform the intellectual property and copyright laws or support more government funded new medical molecule development if you want to reduce drug costs in the U.S.

 

[momeNt]

One point to note:

All but 8 or 9 Republican Senators voted it down

That's called "having bi-partisan support", at which point its up to the Dems to circles the wagons and get the bill passed.

Considering patents is a public creation, which involves a certain level of trust that the patentholder won't manipulate the market, I think it's safe to say that big pharma has broken that trust, and a reform is necessary in one way or another.

 

[Mxylplyx]

Until we stop acting like obscene profit margins in the pharma industry are a god given right, this issue cannot be fixed. Pharma is one of the biggest reason I'm a proponent of single payer. The government, representing over 300m customers, could tell the pharma industry to either accept a certain reasonable price for a drug or piss off

 

[Pens1566]

Need to restrict their advertising. There's no reason I should be telling my doctor that [insert med here] is "right for me". They spend more on marketing than on r&d.

 

[bshole]

I dont think it works that way.

I know plenty of people in "Big Pharma" and they are all doing good work trying to solve problems that people have. Its not their job to convince you to be healthy. That your job.

They could stop producing insulin now, but I really dont think that it would help out that 30 year old with diabetes.

Funny how the drugs aren't curative though. They mostly are maintenance. There is no money in curing diabetes while there are mountains of money in drugs that allow you to live longer while still having diabetes. Are they even researching cures for diabetes?

This is a problem with a capitalistic system of health care. There is a financial DISINCENTIVE to find curative drugs and a financial INCENTIVE to find maintenance drugs. I would prefer that our taxes be used for drug research and the drug companies to be cut completely out of the mix. At this point, the profiteering is just obscene.


Here is an example of big pharma actively harming public health for their own personal profits. The study I have linked shows a causal link to reduced prescription drug overdoses and legalize pot. It turns out that when pot is legalized for pain relief, patients prefer it to the highly addictive and highly dangerous opiates provided by big pharma. For this reason, big pharma has spent obscene amounts of money to try and block medical pot AT THE EXPENSE (both financial and health) of the American patients.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...hting-legal-marijuana/?utm_term=.c4450ed0eb05

 

[Brainonska511]

Funny how the drugs aren't curative though. They mostly are maintenance. There is no money in curing diabetes while there are mountains of money in drugs that allow you to live longer while still having diabetes. Are they even researching cures for diabetes?

Fuck off. As someone that works in science, this meme gets tired really fast. Many diseases are quite complicated and a single small-molecule pill is not going to fix everything, particularly diabetes. For instance, if you can't produce your own insulin (because your stressed insulin-producing cells died), well, you'll need a new source forever. If you have Type II diabetes, characterized by insulin-resistance, you'll also need an insulin-sensitizer drug so you're body will actually react to the insulin. Plus, there are lots of cures available: Hepatitis C (this one is recently developed), various cancers, vaccinations, anti-parasitics, etc... And there are also some amazing new treatments available for people with so-called orphan diseases, like certain types of cystic fibrosis.

Lots of research goes on in both academic, government, and industry labs from basic research through applied research to understand the molecular basis of diseases and how we can attack them.

This is a problem with a capitalistic system of health care. There is a financial DISINCENTIVE to find curative drugs and a financial INCENTIVE to find maintenance drugs. I would prefer that our taxes be used for drug research and the drug companies to be cut completely out of the mix. At this point, the profiteering is just obscene.

The very idea that they'd rather make treatments is moronic. If someone invents a cure, all those treatments immediately become worthless. Who's going to buy a treatment when they can buy the cure?

Tax payer money goes towards a ton of research, both basic and applied. Bleed money towards the applied side though and you'd be hurting us all in the long run. You can't ignore basic research - that's the stuff that helps us understand why a disease is the way it is and what things are going wrong at a molecular level; due to its uncertain return, it's best to let government fund that and (under the current system) let industry pick up the tab on research where they could get a return on investment.

 

[bshole]

Fuck off. As someone that works in science, this meme gets tired really fast. Many diseases are quite complicated and a single small-molecule pill is not going to fix everything, particularly diabetes. For instance, if you can't produce your own insulin (because your stressed insulin-producing cells died), well, you'll need a new source forever. If you have Type II diabetes, characterized by insulin-resistance, you'll also need an insulin-sensitizer drug so you're body will actually react to the insulin. Plus, there are lots of cures available: Hepatitis C (this one is recently developed), various cancers, vaccinations, anti-parasitics, etc... And there are also some amazing new treatments available for people with so-called orphan diseases, like certain types of cystic fibrosis.

Lots of research goes on in both academic, government, and industry labs from basic research through applied research to understand the molecular basis of diseases and how we can attack them.


The very idea that they'd rather make treatments is moronic. If someone invents a cure, all those treatments immediately become worthless. Who's going to buy a treatment when they can buy the cure?

Umm right. I added to my post, I guess you didn't read that part. I will repost it,

Here is an example of big pharma actively harming public health for their own personal profits. The study I have linked shows a causal link to reduced prescription drug overdoses and legalized pot. It turns out that when pot is legalized for pain relief, patients prefer it to the highly addictive and highly dangerous opiates provided by big pharma. For this reason, big pharma has spent obscene amounts of money to try and block medical pot AT THE EXPENSE (both financial and health) of the American patients.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...hting-legal-marijuana/?utm_term=.c4450ed0eb05

Tell me again how much big pharma CARES. Tell me to deny reality. Tell me again how the authors of this study are the liars and big pharma are the honest brokers.