Big Pharma

[Jolthig]

So watching a clip of a documentary regarding Big Pharma, and wanting to research facts behind some of the allegations posed by the documentary, I looked up a Big Pharma company known as Purdue Pharma, and I've seen that they are often involved in several lawsuits, accusing them of misleading the public with false warning labels regarding the risks of addiction of their prescription drugs. Their most famous being in 2007.

They were only required to pay fines to the government and to pay compensation to some states. Yet, they continue to contribute to the opioid crisis.

Although, this is a well-known fact, and what I've seen isn't anything new, I feel this is quite relevant as many companies due to a lack of regulation or poor enforcement of regulations, are quite deceptive, and they lack any sort of empathy whatsoever for human life, but they only care about profit.

It is only a matter of time until they are finally brought to justice. Sooner or later with the latter being most likely at this time.

So regarding Big Pharma, let us discuss.

[Major-Tom]

Even as someone who leans left, I'd like to say that when it comes to critiquing the pharmaceutical industry, it isn't so black and white. There are numerous pharmaceutical corporations who have acted in a detrimental fashion to the American people in order to line their own pockets, sure. Some have even put the health of their customers at risk all in the name of the almighty dollar. It is despicable.

But the pharmaceutical industry has also been at the forefront of pioneering various technologies and treatments for diseases that may have once been considered untreatable and many companies have had a stellar record when it comes to the relation between their strongly beneficial drugs and their customers.

Last, there are many criticisms that should be levied at both private insurers who can rack up the prices of much-needed drugs as much as a pharma company can - the same goes for pharmaceutical wholesalers and independent manufacturers who have a propensity for greed.

It's a complicated industry.

[Jolthig]

Even as someone who leans left, I'd like to say that when it comes to critiquing the pharmaceutical industry, it isn't so black and white. There are numerous pharmaceutical corporations who have acted in a detrimental fashion to the American people in order to line their own pockets, sure. Some have even put the health of their customers at risk all in the name of the almighty dollar. It is despicable.

But the pharmaceutical industry has also been at the forefront of pioneering various technologies and treatments for diseases that may have once been considered untreatable and many companies have had a stellar record when it comes to the relation between their strongly beneficial drugs and their customers.

Last, there are many criticisms that should be levied at both private insurers who can rack up the prices of much-needed drugs as much as a pharma company can - the same goes for pharmaceutical wholesalers and independent manufacturers who have a propensity for greed.

It's a complicated industry.

Right. I'm not saying all pharmaceutical companies as I indicated in my OP specifically whom I'm applying Big Pharma to.

[Rojava Free State]

basically the moral of the story is that you can get away with being responsible for thousands of deaths because of your reckless and selfish behavior as long as you're part of the upper class. I guarantee if one citizen Joe's recklessness caused 50,000 deaths in a single year (still only a fraction of the deaths caused by the opioid crisis), they would have his ass on death row awaiting lethal injection.

Btw, the opioids aren't the end of it all, they're predicting an amphetamine epidemic is on the horizon now because of how much they prescribed adderall in the 2000s, an anti ADHD drug. I'm amazed when people find that to be unexoected, like you thought giving amphetamines to kids wouldn't breed a generation of tweakers? I know a guy who currently is trying to detox from amphetamine addiction and his gateway drug was addies. Stay away from the medication unless you absolutely need it folks, sometimes it's better to do things the natural way, especially since the pharmaceutical corporations do not have your best interests in mind

[Major-Tom]

Even as someone who leans left, I'd like to say that when it comes to critiquing the pharmaceutical industry, it isn't so black and white. There are numerous pharmaceutical corporations who have acted in a detrimental fashion to the American people in order to line their own pockets, sure. Some have even put the health of their customers at risk all in the name of the almighty dollar. It is despicable.

But the pharmaceutical industry has also been at the forefront of pioneering various technologies and treatments for diseases that may have once been considered untreatable and many companies have had a stellar record when it comes to the relation between their strongly beneficial drugs and their customers.

Last, there are many criticisms that should be levied at both private insurers who can rack up the prices of much-needed drugs as much as a pharma company can - the same goes for pharmaceutical wholesalers and independent manufacturers who have a propensity for greed.

It's a complicated industry.

Right. I'm not saying all pharmaceutical companies as I indicated in my OP specifically whom I'm applying Big Pharma to.

Of course, Purdue specifically has had a tattered history involving multiple lawsuits and the like, as you've mentioned. At this point, the best way to stop companies from acting as maliciously as Purdue is to increase government regulation/oversight and in the long run, pivot towards a universal healthcare system.

[Jolthig]

Right. I'm not saying all pharmaceutical companies as I indicated in my OP specifically whom I'm applying Big Pharma to.

Of course, Purdue specifically has had a tattered history involving multiple lawsuits and the like, as you've mentioned. At this point, the best way to stop companies from acting as maliciously as Purdue is to increase government regulation/oversight and in the long run, pivot towards a universal healthcare system.

Exactly. I'm in agreement. And to restore justice to our court system and not do it because of money or bribery.

[US-SSR]

Like the rest of the for-profit health care system big drug companies are in it for the money. Pfizer knew its drug Enbrel could help prevent Alzheimer's but declined to do clinical studies; the drug was at the end of its patent life so there was no money in it. Remember that one next time you see the expensively-produced commercials about how for-profit drug manufacturers really care about patients.

[Cekoviu]

I dislike how the debate around "Big Pharma" often involves naturalist woo and anti-science bullshit, but there are very real concerns surrounding the pharmaceutical industry. More government oversight is needed in the US and other countries, and of course, our lack of universal healthcare makes it somewhat more dangerous to citizens when pharmaceutical companies jack up prices.
Basically, the solution is more left-wing politicians, I guess.

[Jolthig]

I dislike how the debate around "Big Pharma" often involves naturalist woo and anti-science bullshit, but there are very real concerns surrounding the pharmaceutical industry. More government oversight is needed in the US and other countries, and of course, our lack of universal healthcare makes it somewhat more dangerous to citizens when pharmaceutical companies jack up prices.
Basically, the solution is more left-wing politicians, I guess.

True some anti-Vaxx right wingers try to jump on the wagon and try to stereotype all pharmaceutical companies, which I will say, I strong disapprove of. But I tend to use that term for Purdue Pharma as they're in part, responsible for the epidemic of opioids.

[Cekoviu]

I dislike how the debate around "Big Pharma" often involves naturalist woo and anti-science bullshit, but there are very real concerns surrounding the pharmaceutical industry. More government oversight is needed in the US and other countries, and of course, our lack of universal healthcare makes it somewhat more dangerous to citizens when pharmaceutical companies jack up prices.
Basically, the solution is more left-wing politicians, I guess.

True some anti-Vaxx right wingers try to jump on the wagon and try to stereotype all pharmaceutical companies, which I will say, I strong disapprove of. But I tend to use that term for Purdue Pharma as they're in part, responsible for the epidemic of opioids.

Not even right-wingers exclusively. I've seen many a left-wing conspiracy theorist (à la Jill Stein) jump on this train.

[Jolthig]

True some anti-Vaxx right wingers try to jump on the wagon and try to stereotype all pharmaceutical companies, which I will say, I strong disapprove of. But I tend to use that term for Purdue Pharma as they're in part, responsible for the epidemic of opioids.

Not even right-wingers exclusively. I've seen many a left-wing conspiracy theorist (à la Jill Stein) jump on this train.

True. And I've actually debated one a couple times as well before he blocked me. Then again, I was a bit emotional myself then, but that's unrelated lol

[Rojava Free State]

Not even right-wingers exclusively. I've seen many a left-wing conspiracy theorist (à la Jill Stein) jump on this train.

True. And I've actually debated one a couple times as well before he blocked me. Then again, I was a bit emotional myself then, but that's unrelated lol

My issue with big pharma has nothing to do with anti-vax or any other bizarre theories. It's their ethics and morality. Many people in the pharmaceutical sector will quickly push the sale of a drug without enough in depth studies or even in the face of grave concerns, and will lobby both individual doctors and Congress to look the other way while the make junkies out of the population. They also like to raise drug prices for actual necessary life saving medication to prices that the average American cannot keep up with. It's a racket, just another money making venture. They don't actually do this out of respect for the common good, but due to their own greed instead

[Jolthig]

True. And I've actually debated one a couple times as well before he blocked me. Then again, I was a bit emotional myself then, but that's unrelated lol

My issue with big pharma has nothing to do with anti-vax or any other bizarre theories. It's their ethics and morality. Many people in the pharmaceutical sector will quickly push the sale of a drug without enough in depth studies or even in the face of grave concerns, and will lobby both individual doctors and Congress to look the other way while the make junkies out of the population. They also like to raise drug prices for actual necessary life saving medication to prices that the average American cannot keep up with. It's a racket, just another money making venture. They don't actually do this out of respect for the common good, but due to their own greed instead

I agree. The way I see it, the Us is pretty much one nig business. If anything goes wrong and someone needs to be corrected, it's not because of ethics or morality, but for fear of losing their money and their competitors taking advantage of the situation to pretend they have ethics in order to make more money. And that's done through many means like what we've both mentioned.

[Costa Fierro]

It's like GMOs: you can be at odds with the way Monsanto conducts this business but there is no evidence to suggest they're unsafe for humans. Same for pharmaceuticals.

[USS Monitor]

There are definitely issues with medications being misused or inappropriately marketed.

Obviously, there are sometimes when you legitimately need a medication, but why the hell do I hear about medications on TV ads instead of hearing about them from my doctor? If I'm not sick, I don't need to hear about medications. If I do get sick, I should be talking to my doctor about what is wrong with me and what he thinks has the best chance of fixing it, not what drug I saw an ad for last week.

[Jolthig]

There are definitely issues with medications being misused or inappropriately marketed.

Obviously, there are sometimes when you legitimately need a medication, but why the hell do I hear about medications on TV ads instead of hearing about them from my doctor? If I'm not sick, I don't need to hear about medications. If I do get sick, I should be talking to my doctor about what is wrong with me and what he thinks has the best chance of fixing it, not what drug I saw an ad for last week.

Right. Many commercials have logical fallacies and misleading rhetoric

[Cetacea]

Its all part of the major fault in American Corporate Liberalism

American pharmaceutical companies will defend high prices as justified by the expensive research and development necessary for each new formula. But these companies have annual profit margins over 40% which they use to wield huge lobbying efforts to prevent price regulations. Also like most things in America the research investment in Big Pharma was fueled by the military-industrial complex, especially after the discovery of penicillin and development of vaccines (I wont get in to the connection between Military and development of antipsychotics, sedatives, stimulants and mood stabilizers).

No denying these discoveries are great and we should be thankful that we now have a range of pharmaceuticals, vaccines and treatments to assist in health but they should not be a source of inequality. "Socialized medicine" might have been made a slur in America but having a Single Buyer regime and better access to generic brands would do much to making things fairer for those who need medicine

[Neutraligon]

SO part of the problem when it comes to drug development, at least for non-generic drugs, is that the risk as well as cost of research is very high. That justifies some of the cost. Production can also be very high, since changes to the method of production of a drug can drastically change the danger of the drug itself (I believe that these changes have to be approved by the FDA). Does that justify the price, probably not all of it, but it doe justify at least a little.

Part of the problem is that medicine has a very big power difference between those who are buying, and those who are selling. It isn't just that people will do basically everything they can to save their own lives, it is also that there is general lack of knowledge when it comes to medicine in general, making people dependent on those who do have knowledge and thus limiting them in what they can find out. It is this power differential that makes me support the US government having negotiating power when setting prices for medication when it comes to medicare and the such.

[Bombadil]

The same foundation that Jonas Salk worked for and provided the vaccine for Polio for free also discovered the vaccine for Rubella. So it doesn't necessarily need Big Pharma to pump out thousands of iterations of drugs and then push doctors to prescribe them while underplaying the dangers.

I mean.. 'for-profit healthcare' shouldn't be a phrase.

[Farnhamia]

The same foundation that Jonas Salk worked for and provided the vaccine for Polio for free also discovered the vaccine for Rubella. So it doesn't necessarily need Big Pharma to pump out thousands of iterations of drugs and then push doctors to prescribe them while underplaying the dangers.

I mean.. 'for-profit healthcare' shouldn't be a phrase.

It should only be a phrase in history books.

[Jolthig]

SO part of the problem when it comes to drug development, at least for non-generic drugs, is that the risk as well as cost of research is very high. That justifies some of the cost. Production can also be very high, since changes to the method of production of a drug can drastically change the danger of the drug itself (I believe that these changes have to be approved by the FDA). Does that justify the price, probably not all of it, but it doe justify at least a little.

Part of the problem is that medicine has a very big power difference between those who are buying, and those who are selling. It isn't just that people will do basically everything they can to save their own lives, it is also that there is general lack of knowledge when it comes to medicine in general, making people dependent on those who do have knowledge and thus limiting them in what they can find out. It is this power differential that makes me support the US government having negotiating power when setting prices for medication when it comes to medicare and the such.

Sse, that's part of the problem. People tend to appeal to authority when buying medicine products which can be blamed on the lack of education in these areas. Something like common sense like this is partially why we have an epidemic. Which is why some companies take advantage of this gullibility of people to give them strong drugs. Authority figures and people in doctors uniforms sure does make people think wrongly.

[The Derpy Democratic Republic Of Herp]

Big Pharma, as with a lot of corporations does some shady and some really bad shit.

That is not, however, a reason to ditch vaccines and medicine.

All depends on the specific corporations, some are ok, some are bad, some are really bad.

[Jolthig]

Big Pharma, as with a lot of corporations does some shady and some really bad shit.

That is not, however, a reason to ditch vaccines and medicine.

All depends on the specific corporations, some are ok, some are bad, some are really bad.

Agreed.

[Valehart]

There certainly is a fine, fine line between the pros and cons of pharma corporations, and corporations in general. It's really upsetting how some people are using this as an argument for anti-vax movements. All in all, when big pharma plays dirty, no one wins except them. And that's why I agree with OP, we should heighten oversight and regulations to discourage this type of behaviour. The medical field is pretty important to regulate after all.