(22-03-2016, 04:50 PM)iaboy Wrote: (19-03-2016, 08:17 PM)AbiDrew85 Wrote: The big pharma vs insurance company argument is moot when it comes to prescription drugs anyways, as they are one and the same. Every single insurance company out there is part of a large conglomerate that includes at least one and often several other pharmaceutical companies. They usually own the only providers you're allowed to visit, for example, while using their plan. If not outright, they at least have a decent bit of controlling interest. They also frequently are in close partnership with at least one pharmaceutical producer.
When it comes to the US medical industry, the entire industry is so convolutedly cross-owned that there is NO differentiation really.
Or they get substantial kick backs! !
Cross-ownership, kickbacks, and - KEY ITEM - the regulators and the industry have a revolving-door relationship.
Leave the FDA, work as a lobbyist for the industry, or IN the industry.
Then go back and write more laws for the industry. Rinse and repeat.
The one thing Bernie is correct on, the system is set up to screw us. But he wouldn't change it for the world. He's been sucking the government's breast since he was born. (First job at 40 - in government. Prior to that, lived off welfare. Since the election, lived on welfare of a different name.)
Further, the whole purpose of these beasts is profit. We're expendable, and the costs of lawsuits are figured into the game / risk analysis. They have drugs on the shelves right now - so that the next one will be patented and marketed as the next "miracle drug" as soon as the old one goes off-patent (is no longer profitable.)
And there's no money in a cure. Repeat business is what's important in allopathic medicine. And it's not new! The Yellow Emperor's treatise relates a similar enough story. When asked, "who is the greatest doctor in your family?" the royal physician responded, "My mother sees the food we eat, and changes the diet before we are aware. Her name does not get outside the house. My father, sees people walking down the street, senses their unease, and talks to them, makes suggestions so they do not fall ill. His name does not get off the street. My brother, he sees those who have a concern or ailment, and has liniments and supplements that cure them in a week. His name does not get out of the village. And I...? People come to me sick and twisted, and with great medicines and incantations, I drive the illness from their body, usually... And here I am."
IIRC, that was in the BC range...
The human animal hasn't changed.
-Dianna
