When it comes to influencing policy in Washington, every industry has their preferred methods. The oil industry sets up phony grassroots campaigns to spread misinformation and lobby Congress for everything they want. Wall Street banks prefer to operate in the shadows, throwing money towards members of Congress they think will be influential. But when it comes to affecting policy in Washington, D.C., no organization or industry has gamed the system better than the pharmaceutical industry.
With combined yearly income that tops $110 billion (and that’s just from prescription drugs – revenue from medical devices hovers around $350 billion,) the pharmaceutical industry is one of the most powerful – both financially and politically – industries in the country. And since they can’t make a move without government approval, they’ve created an infrastructure that will benefit their companies for generations.
Unlike other companies that focus all of their time on either political donations or indirect lobbying, Big Pharma has taken an “all of the above” approach when it comes to dirty tricks. Sure, they throw around a hefty amount of campaign cash, but money can only buy so much if the backlash from the public is strong enough. So in order to overcome the limitations of dollar bills, the industry has decided to take a page out of a sleazy spy novel – they operate with men on the inside of the system.
The crimes that Big Pharma has managed to get away with as a result of their two-pronged approach towards policy influence would make even the hardest gangster blush: Price gouging, negligence, lying to government officials, and even manslaughter. And even though our U.S. Supreme Court tells us that corporations are “people,” not one executive from the pharmaceutical industry is sitting in a jail cell. They are having expensive dinners in New York City; enjoying cocktails with government officials; and coming up with new, manufactured diseases that they can “cure” for a hefty profit. Here’s how they do it:
More on this story here.
Eddie
4 comments:
My son is a pharmacist, we believe in what he does. And honestly, I don't know enough about what you write to have an educated opinion!!
Hi Debbie
Pharmacist's are honest hard working people. It's big pharma that have been fined $billions for dishonesty. I would be very proud if one of our children was a Pharmacist. One of my hero's is a Pharmacist Libby at ditch the carbs.
"I am a registered pharmacist and wanted to retrain as a dietician or nutritionist, so I could teach others what I have learnt. Sadly there are no low carb degree courses (other than the ones you ‘buy’ on line – avoid those). I would have to train in the traditional low fat manner just to gain some qualifications whilst doing my own LCHF research , it would have cost me $10,000’s, impacted incredibly on the family and I would have probably ended up working part time helping only a few people. So therefore, Ditch The Carbs was born."
Her site is here. http://www.ditchthecarbs.com/about/
Regards Eddie
My husband used to work for pharmaceutical companies.After being exposed first hand into that sort of research, he takes medications himself only on a last-resort basis. He says that if a medication doesn't have a side effect, it is a sure sign it doesn't work, and when you fight an illness with a medication, there is always a price to pay healthwise. Of course, there are legitimate scientific targets in a pharm research. There are necessary medical drugs and treatments. The problem rises when pharmacological products are used as a part of a life-style, in attempts to micro-regulate complex body system instead of modifications of a life-style. Statines are the most outrageous example of such approach.
To use a strained medical metaphor, Big Pharma is a life threatening cancer. I don't hold much hope for a cure anytime soon since it has its hooks into everything, sucking out the life force.
Imagine the hole it would leave in the body politic if it were cut out completely?
C.
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