sombear said:I just don't have a problem with profit. Big oil, big pharma, big tech, big finance, big defense. Profit means they are producing thing than people want or need.Mothra said:You might need to rethink who you love. I am not saying all pharmaceutical companies are bad, or that they don't provide a benefit to society. But Big Pharma has become a cash cow, and places the bottom line over people's lives, often times with the benefit of limited immunity from prosecution for its bad acts. There are countless examples (see the opioid epidemic).sombear said:I love St. Jude's and Big Pharma!!!Mothra said:This is especially ironic, given your vocal support of big pharmaceutical companies. Speaking of grift, how much did Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson and the like make from the world govts. on the COVID vaccine again? All told it was in the hundreds of billions of dollars. And who is the number one advertiser in the world today? Once again the large pharmaceutical companies. And what industry is the number one lobbiest of Congress? You guessed it: the pharmaceutical industry. And finally, which of the 7 largest pharmaceutical companies have been convicted of criminal negligence in a court of law at some point in the last 30 plus years? Answer: All of them.Tempus Edax Rerum said:LoneStar77 said:
This is one of the most bizarre threads I have seen on this board, and that is saying something. I am a long time employee of a major corporate partner with St. Jude. Please look at their website or talk to family that has been impacted or an employee. Their goal is "Finding cures. Saving children", not housing patient families or providing supplemental income. Bizzare...
Plenty of research institutions are focused on finding cures for cancer. St. Judes just grifts way more than most.
But sure, it's St. Jude's that's the grift. Let me guess, you don't like the fact that St. Jude's is providing all of these medications for free.
The industry needs to be completely reformed.
Even if I did case, big pharma's profit margins are often lower than several other industries, and no other industry has the R&D cost and risk they have. I mean, few other industries can pay $ tens of billions on a product that never even makes it to market.
And who benefits most from those profits? Everyone. 80% of American families making over $65k own stock. About 90% making over $100k.
Yes, there are bad actors in every industry. Every heavily regulated industry in the world has numerous examples of companies breaking the law. I'm obviously not defending that. But pharma is far from unique in that regard.
And I've studied and watched docs on the opioid crisis. I know one of the major player's primary litigators. It's tragic. Folks should be in prison, and many are. But if you drill down on the allegations and the pleas, in most cases, we're talking about mid-level employees looking the other way while local pharmacies gave drugs out like candy.
As for COVID, I have strong positions against mandates, many of the lies told, and all sorts of issues. But what these companies did was near miraculous. The COVID vax was wildly successful. Those companies should profit handsomely for that. And, heck, I want them to be highly motivated the next time.
And despite the lies and misdirection of the RFK Jr. types, there is no greater example of pharma success than vaccines, which have saved countless lives and have been proven safe.
I've also posted before some personal anecdotes. Many in my family, including me, would not be alive or have anywhere near the quality of life were it not for big pharma. Same can be said for hundreds of millions of people around the world. And the strong majority of life-saving drugs are produced by American big pharma.
Reform? I guess so, but you trust the feds on that? And what kind of reform?
I don't think you can compare big Pharma to say the oil industry. You're talking about drugs that have substantial effects on humanity, both good and bad. Now I would absolutely agree with you that pharmaceuticals have been a net good. There's no question about that. But I think you need to take a closer look at some of the harm that has resulted from pharmaceutical companies that places profits over safety. I named just one example and there are many.
When industries are so in bed with the federal government that they receive billions in funds each year, special tax breaks, and immunity from prosecution, that's how you create a monster. I would argue that the proper conservative position on this subject is to strip the tax breaks, immunity and re-examine some of the funding. The idea that big pharma is entitled to that is neither a conservative nor a capitalist position.
As for Robert Kennedy, like you, I take much of what he says with a grain of salt. But I think if you would actually examine some of his positions, you'd see, it's not all lies he's spreading. We can take the 1986 vaccine immunity bill as an example. That was the Bill that gave big Pharma almost blanket immunity for vaccine injuries. Guess what happened after that? The number of vaccines increased dramatically. We now have a vaccine for almost everything. It seems. The average two-year-old will have had 70 immunizations by the age of two. For comparison say, as someone on the verge of 50, I had four.
If you look at a line graph of disorders among children, it almost mirrors the line graph of the number of vaccines since 1986. And I'm not just talking about autism. Auto immune disorders, ADHD, ADD, gastrointestinal disorders - you name it and they're all increased substantially since 1986. All just a coincidence? Highly doubtful.
I am not an anti-VAX her and I'm not arguing that vaccines and other pharmaceutical courses haven't been a nut good for society. But I think there has been abuse by the big pharmaceutical companies that have contributed much harm to our children. Like you, I am alive because of modern day medicine. However, my son is permanently brain damaged from a vaccine. So I have a little bit different perspective.
