Posts Tagged "drugs"

The older I get (maturity yanno), the more people I counsel, with every person I get to know in a deeper, closer way, the more I’m convinced we’re all messed up to one degree or another.  Once you get past the veneers, the facades, the masks, have you ever met anyone who was not wounded in some way by a delusional, angry, mother, abusive father, weird relative, peer, spouse, teacher, pastor, priest, church, or boss?  I haven’t.  But if you’re like me, we tend to look at other people and say, “they have it all together.”  “Why can’t I be like them?” I recently attended a Christian men’s retreat designed to address a man’s shame, anger, loss, guilt, and fear.  The transparency from each man was astonishing and refreshing.  I met...

There’s a lot of hoopla right now about the so-called H1N1 virus or as mid westerners who raise hogs for a living hate to call it, the “swine flu.”  Some people are reluctant to be immunized against the flu by taking the vaccine shot or nasal spray.  Today marks another anniversary of  the end of small pox throughout the world.  Let’s be rational and not emotional.  Think about polio, measles, mumps, pneumonia, and many other diseases which have been practically eliminated by vaccines.  Vaccines are our best defense against infectious diseases, but vaccines may not be 100% safe or effective. Our bodies react differently to vaccines. Some people may have side effects after vaccination, and some may not be completely protected from...

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) ...