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Dying for drugs
Former Member
Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
not quite sure which forum this would go in: entertainment, health or politics... so ive put it here!
did anyone just watch Dying for Drugs on channel 4?
im not sure to what extent it was subjective and trying to trigger a reaction, but if that is what it was intended to do, it worked on me!
i cannot believe how inhumane the phamaceutical companies are, exploiting disieases such as cancer and aids to make a profit. i think its completely unethical making money like that, knowing exactly how many people it is killing...
i saw that little boy dying because he couldnt get the drugs he needed to make it easier for him to eat, and at the end of the programme you saw him die:(. its so sad because if he had been able to afford the drugs earlier on it would have given him such a better chance of life!
it just seems so unfair that these companies are putting such a huge price on something so valuble as someones life.
i could go on and on about this but im not going to! did anyone else see this? what did you think?
thanks for any responces:)
ps. an example of the price is $28 per tablet, which needs to be taken 8 times per day to help cure leukemia, when they could be produce for less than $1:mad:
did anyone just watch Dying for Drugs on channel 4?
im not sure to what extent it was subjective and trying to trigger a reaction, but if that is what it was intended to do, it worked on me!
i cannot believe how inhumane the phamaceutical companies are, exploiting disieases such as cancer and aids to make a profit. i think its completely unethical making money like that, knowing exactly how many people it is killing...
i saw that little boy dying because he couldnt get the drugs he needed to make it easier for him to eat, and at the end of the programme you saw him die:(. its so sad because if he had been able to afford the drugs earlier on it would have given him such a better chance of life!
it just seems so unfair that these companies are putting such a huge price on something so valuble as someones life.
i could go on and on about this but im not going to! did anyone else see this? what did you think?
thanks for any responces:)
ps. an example of the price is $28 per tablet, which needs to be taken 8 times per day to help cure leukemia, when they could be produce for less than $1:mad:
Post edited by JustV on
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Comments
How much of it is Trade tarifs (greedy/poor governments), and how much is inflated profit margins for phamaceutical companies?
blimey, this could open up a million different discussions.
Hmmm, oh well, im just procrastinating. Should leave now and work :mad: :yuck:
hi mrbouce (nice avatar btw;)
i think that the trade tariffs do have something to do with it. one of the things in the programme was the tariff put on the export of the leukemia drug from india, which prevented the import of it to south korea.
its quite scary the amount of power these multinational pharmaceutical companies have over peoples lives...
So, what's your solution? How would you go about it? Sorry to sound like I'm knocking you, but there isn't a perfect solution. Nobody's going to have the billions to invest in research without wanting some kind of return (ie profit), and nobody's going to work for free or minimum wage (appart from the odd loony), so things will carry on as they always have.
Mr_Wobble
True, cost of production per pill isnt even half of it. There is obviously huge costs involved in research, these companies have to cover the cost of failed research projects aswell as when they do find/make a drug that actually does work.
However a lot of profit is just lining fat cats wallets (ok, they must be highly skilled and *may* deserve it) but its not just the pharmaceuticals that take their cut.
I think the majority of the extra cost is due to trade tariffs. (correct me if im wrong)
Obviously there isnt a perfect solution, but its far from ideal at the moment. If all disease is cured, we would have to deal with overcrowding instead. still, thats another discussion completly.
Thanks, not so bad urself;):wave:
i know there isnt a perfect solution, and to disagree with what you said earlier, that they spend alot on research... this is often untrue because they just alter an exisiting drug slightly and sell it as a completely new one, which means they will make a huge profit after spending a small amount on the research part. an example of them doing this was to viagra, which there are about 8 different types, all pretty much the same!
i just think that privatisation, when it comes to health care is completely wrong. there is the whole dispute over Celera (private)competing with the Human Genome Project (HGP). they both carry out a HUGE amount of research to uncover the human genome (which could hold the key to developing many life saving drugs) however the private company, Celera, intended to sell this information to research companies, whereas the HGP were publicly owned and intended to publish it on the internet, available to anyone for free.
how can people put a price on life like that?
i know there is the issue of over-population, but surely the better solution for this problem is preventing births by making the use of birth control and knowledge of contraception more widespread, rather than preventing people from getting better, to keep the population down!
i wonder if its a huge conspiracy by governments to keep populations down by putting huge tariffs on drugs! (joking:D )
i havent read any of them, can you recomend any in particular? i couldnt agree more about the ruthlessness of the companies... it makes me want to do something about it but i know thats nearly impossible! although i am going to uni to do medicine next year, maybe when im a famous doctor i may be able to have some influence:D
The case with the cost of drugs in the far east was tragic but when they mentioned that the drug companies can charge "what ever they want", well thats just a lie. In all major governments, and within international law, there is a listing system where by the cost of the drug is compared to its licence length and other factors.
It is NOT like the companies can charge whatever they like, the power of the buyers (governments) has been strengthened over the years and many drugs have been 'de-listed' in the UK which ment that the UK wouldnt buy them, the companies reduced their prices and then they were listed again.
The companies were obviously doing something dodgy but they are not an issolated case, every industry does things like that, there is a need for better regulation and inforcement.
You have to remember that they are a business, the directors have a legal responsibilty to make the business profitable!
They are NOT charities, if you dont like that then some sort of nationalised drugs companies should be set up.
Yes the directors can make "fat cat" saleries, whatever that means but that is in the nature of the economic system we have, if you dont like it then take it up with the UK government not the company.