Big Pharma is both good and evil. Regardless of its motives, Big Pharma has prolonged our lives or kept our lifespan about this same (which is remarkable considering how fat an unhealthy we are). Maybe we all need a wake-up call to realize that a longer life isn't necessarily a better life... I for one would rather die at 70 then to live from 75 - 95 in a nursing home staring at a TV drooling while some nurse changes my poop filled depends twice a day.
If you want to give Big Pharma the proverbial 'middle finger' then put down the fork, the cigs, and get off of your couch and do 30 - 60 minutes of exercising a day (the anti-glutton effect). This will lower your blood pressure (no more ACEs, ARBs, beta blockers, CCBs, alpha antagonists), cholesterol (bye bye statins, niacin, fibrates and zetia), reverse diabetes (no more metformin, TZDs, insuline), and prevent heart attack (adios plavix/effient/brillinta).
Yes, I realize that genetics and other uncontrollable factors cause illness... but many things are preventable by not smoking, eating decent, and exercising. But if you choose to ignore the anti glutton effect fact, then don't you dare b*tch about "Big Pharma" and "Big Medicine."
Generic drugs help defray the cost pharma drugs which I would hope means lower healthcare costs and health insurance premiums. It certainly doesn't address more investment into preventative care. I would agree with many comments that while NIH helps to fund many pharma drug research projects, pharmaceuticals turn around charge health care providers and patients eye-gouging prices that only aid increasing insurance costs. So pharma basically uses the consumer, hospitals and health insurance companies as its piggy bank. Yet, these same companies cannot charge market rate for their drugs in countries with cost controls like Canada. The same Lipitor drug is sold at dramatically different rates. And what is so bizarre is that our government says it's fine to have two different pricing systems for pharma: the US and everyone else. So our government uses our tax money to finance a drug development system that gouges its own citizens. I understand pharmas use clinical developers that fund their own trials and the cost to bring a drug to market can run into the millions. If the government helps, then that cost to consumers should reflect savings proportionate to the aid. Bioethics aside, prevention is preferable to cure.
If you want to give Big Pharma the proverbial 'middle finger' then put down the fork, the cigs, and get off of your couch and do 30 - 60 minutes of exercising a day (the anti-glutton effect). This will lower your blood pressure (no more ACEs, ARBs, beta blockers, CCBs, alpha antagonists), cholesterol (bye bye statins, niacin, fibrates and zetia), reverse diabetes (no more metformin, TZDs, insuline), and prevent heart attack (adios plavix/effient/brillinta).
Yes, I realize that genetics and other uncontrollable factors cause illness... but many things are preventable by not smoking, eating decent, and exercising. But if you choose to ignore the anti glutton effect fact, then don't you dare b*tch about "Big Pharma" and "Big Medicine."
Generic drugs help defray the cost pharma drugs which I would hope means lower healthcare costs and health insurance premiums. It certainly doesn't address more investment into preventative care. I would agree with many comments that while NIH helps to fund many pharma drug research projects, pharmaceuticals turn around charge health care providers and patients eye-gouging prices that only aid increasing insurance costs. So pharma basically uses the consumer, hospitals and health insurance companies as its piggy bank. Yet, these same companies cannot charge market rate for their drugs in countries with cost controls like Canada. The same Lipitor drug is sold at dramatically different rates. And what is so bizarre is that our government says it's fine to have two different pricing systems for pharma: the US and everyone else. So our government uses our tax money to finance a drug development system that gouges its own citizens. I understand pharmas use clinical developers that fund their own trials and the cost to bring a drug to market can run into the millions. If the government helps, then that cost to consumers should reflect savings proportionate to the aid. Bioethics aside, prevention is preferable to cure.
