Re: Drugging the Congress

Ozzy said:

(BTW, I wonder how many patients with refractory siezure disorders are
told about the Ketogenic diet, or for that matter, even that diet is
sometimes a factor in epilepsy? Hopefully a few more than in the 1980s,
when I threw a few Grand Mals, and only one of the six neurologists whom I
consulted in the NYC area had apparently ever heard of such a thing.)

Or that taking probiotics may help with Grand Mals.

Ozzy said:

ted rosenberg <[email hidden]> wrote in
news:[email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

I must note that the snake oil salesmen pushing "supplements" also
spend millions on lobbying.

True enough, but -- aside from the old argument about two wrongs & a
right -- the one thing that the sleezes on the Pharma side have to their
overwhelming advantage, that the others don't, is the popular prestige of
the medical profession. ...

Oh they have LOTS of other things...most importantly, PATENTS. Funny,
they used to mock the "patent medicine" industry. Nowadays, SOME of
the drugs they produce are useful. Others less so--but godlets help
you if you have cancer, AIDS or other major diseases--they will USE
the patent law--or rather abuse it--to justify screwing you for every
last dime and charge outrageous and utterly unjustified amounts of
money.

This results in distorting the intent of patents: to stimulate
innovation. Big companies now just hang around like vultures and await
little companies to come up with ideas (or often the government, i.e.,
public sector investment). Then they sue the [censored] out of each other
and/or have to pay HUGE licensing fees all up and down the stream of
discovery--to the end that companies have sometimes dropped a
promising drug just because the licensing fees are too high.

The SCALE of the spending by pharma is MUCH different than the
supplement industry.

George M. Carter

Ozzy said:

ted rosenberg <[email hidden]> wrote in
news:[email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

I must note that the snake oil salesmen pushing "supplements" also
spend millions on lobbying.

True enough, but -- aside from the old argument about two wrongs & a
right -- the one thing that the sleezes on the Pharma side have to their
overwhelming advantage, that the others don't, is the popular prestige of
the medical profession. By and large, doctors far are more likely to
presecribe a new proprietary drug advertised by the drug companies, with
relatively low-frequency but disastrous side effects than they are to
tell patients to take a supplement. Many of them don't still "believe
in" any vitamins at all.

(BTW, I wonder how many patients with refractory siezure disorders are
told about the Ketogenic diet, or for that matter, even that diet is
sometimes a factor in epilepsy? Hopefully a few more than in the 1980s,
when I threw a few Grand Mals, and only one of the six neurologists whom I
consulted in the NYC area had apparently ever heard of such a thing.)

Ozzy

Yep- the original post was not about a concern about high drug prices,
it was to push scam supplements, worthless vitimens, and poison herbs

--
"...in addition to being foreign territory the past is, as history, a
hall of mirrors that reflect the needs of souls observing from the present"
Glen Cook

On Wed, 13 Jul 2005 09:12:11 -0400, ted rosenberg
<[email hidden]> wrote:

snip...

Quoted message said:

Yep- the original post was not about a concern about high drug prices,
it was to push scam supplements, worthless vitimens, and poison herbs

Well, there's a cogent and useful commentary!

It's as brain dead as saying all drugs are toxic waste.

GMCarter said:

Ozzy said:

ted rosenberg <[email hidden]> wrote in
news:[email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

I must note that the snake oil salesmen pushing "supplements" also
spend millions on lobbying.

True enough, but -- aside from the old argument about two wrongs & a
right -- the one thing that the sleezes on the Pharma side have to their
overwhelming advantage, that the others don't, is the popular prestige of
the medical profession. ...

Oh they have LOTS of other things...most importantly, PATENTS. Funny,
they used to mock the "patent medicine" industry. Nowadays, SOME of
the drugs they produce are useful. Others less so--but godlets help
you if you have cancer, AIDS or other major diseases--they will USE
the patent law--or rather abuse it--to justify screwing you for every
last dime and charge outrageous and utterly unjustified amounts of
money.

This results in distorting the intent of patents: to stimulate
innovation. Big companies now just hang around like vultures and await
little companies to come up with ideas (or often the government, i.e.,
public sector investment). Then they sue the [censored] out of each other
and/or have to pay HUGE licensing fees all up and down the stream of
discovery--to the end that companies have sometimes dropped a
promising drug just because the licensing fees are too high.

The SCALE of the spending by pharma is MUCH different than the
supplement industry.

George M. Carter

And they have billions to spend. Last year they were nearly a half a
trillion dollar industry, with profits three times higher than the next
highest industry. That is a lot of money to throw around.

TC