Posted by cubbybear on January 19, 2004, at 0:18:47
In reply to Re: Generic Klonopin » AndyD, posted by AndyD on January 18, 2004, at 8:46:29
> First off, I dont understand why so many people out there have this anti-big drug firm mentality.
They cant do that kind of research when everyone is buying generics.
How much time do you have to listen to why so many people "have this anti-drug firm mentality." ?Just to mention two examples:
1) Tens of thousands of people have died of AIDS while the manufacturers of anti-HIV medications adamantly balked at lowering their prices since profits were infinitely more important than saving human lives. Low-income sufferers (in the U.S.) were unable to get the medication they needed. The big companies fought tooth and nail to hold onto their patents rather than permit manufacturers in third-world nations to manufacture their products. Only through vociferous demonstrations and public protests were AIDS patients able to convince the manufacturers to drop their prices. But by then, the damage was done, and it was too little too late.
2) For many months if not years, the manufacturers of anti-depressants Paxil and Effexor have refused to acknowledge the severe and disabling withdrawal symptoms that numerous patients experience when attempting to stop taking these medications. Class action litigation and other concerted actions are now underway to force the manufacturers to publicly state the risks, or to stop underplaying the risks inherent in taking these medications. Why do SO many people have to suffer before the companies can be persuaded to do anything? The answer is: profits before public safety.
Your argument about the big firms needing the money to do research is exactly what the firms themselves say all the time, as if there's just nothing left in the cookie jar. In a pig's nose there isn't! They're swimming in the big bucks they've made from their patented block busting drugs, and go on reaping millions more every day from the inflated prices that countless people (yourself not included) can not afford to pay. If the generic companies were suddenly blown off the market and only the name-brand meds were available, you'd probably see a load more people walking around without the medication they so desperately need. All because the big business profits are more important than the happiness and well being of real people.
poster:cubbybear
thread:302147
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20040118/msgs/302550.html