Pharmaceutical Industry

Graduation day! As most of you know my younger son graduated from law school this past Saturday.  Besides the customary platitudes, thank you’s to parents and faculty it was an exciting day  (never mind that the valedictorian in her speech, attributed a passage in the Bible, “to whom much is given, much is required”,  to, get this JFK!  Dumb Dumb. Liberals will stop at no expense to worship fellow dems even if it means stealing from the Holy Bible. It was Clint’s day and I was the typical proud father of his accomplishments.  Opportunity lies ahead.  What he will do with his degree is now up to him. It’s cost me an arm and a leg, but so be it. Aside from the typical sentimental breakdown that I usually display at these...

The company I work for has joined in the popular cultural, environmental revolution and is following  the fad of “going green.”  They’ve taken away our plastic forks and spoons, disposable cups and bottled water from the high school like cafeteria. The napkins are under lock and key requiring a safe combination to get my skinny little fingers in to the slots only to pull down something akin to thin sheet of toilet paper which dissolves on contact with liquid tomato sauce.  The water faucets, towel dispensers, and soap dispensers are all automatically activated by a hand wave. I know all this is intended to save the planet and that’s all well and good (if you think our planet needs saving).  But does it really save anything?  The...

Recently I attended a panel discussion led by senior level people who were asked to share key takeaways from their career journey.  What makes them successful?  Listed below are some of their ideas related to preparing resumes and interviewing for future positions. Develop the ability to communicate how your current and past skills are transferable to the new position you are seeking.  Link your current resume with future opportunities that may in fact be in a completely different field.  This contrasts with the mind set of “I’ve never done this before.” Develop the ability to move out of your comfort zone.  Look for ways to strengthen your self confidence if necessary.  Move away from fear and be willing to face the unknown. Make...

Given the vital role of medical products companies and the magnitude of their challenges, one might imagine that this industry would be admired. To some extent, it is. Leading research organizations such as the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s disease proactively build bridges with industry leaders, solicit advice from industry scientists, and fund projects in industry labs. But this enlightened view of industry is not widespread. This is largely because of the disproportionate influence of a coterie of prominent critics we have previously dubbed “pharmascolds,” who routinely vilify the medical products industry and portray academics working with it as traitors and sellouts. These critics are pious academics, self-righteous medical...

If you try to beat up on the drug companies, there will be no winners, only losers.  On 3/30 I found this article which pretty much sums it up.  As drug companies prosper, more dollars are used for research and development of new life saving medications.  If you’re using generic drugs, you may save some money in the short term but what future are you leaving for your children and grandchildren?  For more context see my 3/27 post.

If you are reading this, you’re probably taking some type of prescription medication or have done so at some time in your life.  We Americans love the products the big bad pharmaceutical companies make, but feel less favorable towards the companies themselves because we feel we’re being ripped off by high prices. You think price controls and government regulation is the answer? The truth is, drug companies have been a real engine of innovation. If we destroy their profitability through price controls and government rationing, the costs would be very real. The recent slow-down in the introduction of new blockbuster drugs is in part the delayed result of underinvestment in the 1990s — the last time the political class (read Bill and Hillary) ...