She ranted about the socialist Obama and ramming through health care. I was polite. I told her she was nuts and where did she get that nonsense. "Well look at Canada...we are doing Canada here and that is a mess."
The fact is that she thinks like a lot of people on this issue and part of the reason is those who support reform haven't put out the message as clearly as those who oppose it.
You might want to read this article. Maybe not but I hope so. I'm in advertising. Drugs are heavily advertised on TV here. "Ask you doctor if cyanide is right for you"...you've heard these. Advertising and promotions are 40% of a drug cost. That is a fact. 40% of the cost of a drug is put into marketing and advertising. THAT IS A FACT. FACT. It is a fact....grrrr. Canada doesn't permit advertising of drugs or the marketing costs therein. Can't do that there. Result: Rx in Canada for the same drug...the very same drug...are 40% lower there than here. Go to an online pharmacy and find out for yourselves.
This is incorrect. It is not advertizsing that runs up the cost of the drugs. It is the research and development and generating the massive amount of paperwork to satisfy the FDA (a government run agency) that runs up the costs of drugs in the US. The US funds all the costs of research and development because we have a FOR PROFIT health care system as opposed to the SOCIALIZED medical system in Canada. The best way to kill the money and the innovation in the pharma industry is turn the US into a socialized medical system. GOT IT!! You have been hanging around too many left wing blog sites. What needs to happen is the super slow and inefficient FDA needs to be privatized (get the government out of it) which will bring drug costs down. Thousands of people die every year because of the FDA but you never hear about it. Why? Because they are so slow at approving new drugs and asking for more paperwork thousands of lives would be helped or saved by the drugs they are keeping off the market here in the US. The cost of getting a medicine thru the FDA is enormous and the only way to recoup those costs is to charge people more. Orphan drugs never get approved because of the FDA. The government is the problem, not the solution.
ReplyDeletesorry mac.
ReplyDeletei am in advertising. i have had pharma companies as clients.
same drug same x-factory cost except in the USA there is a 40% adjustment to the end user to cover the 40 cents on each revenue dollar spent on advertising and marketing.
Been to Montreal and instead of enjoying the private horse and buggy I began asking about the Canadian drug and healthcare. They are a two headed sword. Bottom line, nobody gets a free lunch and I recommend asking Canadians on both sides of the sword. Europe also has socialized medicine and nearly half of their income goes towards taxes. I doubt that Big Pharma will stop inventing new drugs since they spend more on advertisement than R&D. It's a COMMON practice that a drug company will change an INACTIVE ingredient in a drug that is about to go generic and send out the sales force reps with free samples and even pre-printed and signed, along with paid vacations, etc. Recently a new eye doctor gave was writing me a script and I asked the cost. 280 a month. I said I could'nt afford that, I'm on Medicare. He immediately asked if I wanted a cheaper one that costs about 20 bucks. The medical system in this country is messed up in more ways than are visible on the surface. It's almost like a Mafia system.
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