No, the argument doesn't hold true for many businesses...but it DOES hold true for the drug industry.

If I owned a drug company that spent millions on R&D to create an innovative new drug, then I would damn sure lobby to ensure that I was able to hold on to my patents for a fair period of time and recoup my investment and make a profit as well!

Why do you expect companies to make exceptions and accept lower profits just because they are in the medical field? Do you expect the same of other types of companies, just because they offer some particular product or service that you think should cost less for some arbitrary reason?

Mike

__________________
_____
1979 300 SD
350,000 miles
_____
1982 300D-gone---sold to a buddy
_____
1985 300TD
270,000 miles
_____
1994 E320
not my favorite, but the wife wanted it

www.myspace.com/mikemover
www.myspace.com/openskystudio
www.myspace.com/speedxband
www.myspace.com/openskyseparators
www.myspace.com/doubledrivemusic

There needs to a balance in the system between treatment cost and availability. What good are state-of-the-art drugs if no one can afford them?

Drug companies have evolved into powerful giants with little or no regard for anything but profits. They often fudge clinical studies and have been found to ignore potential harmful side-effects hoping that settling law suits will be less expensive than foregoing profits.

Don't think for a minute that drug companies have lower profits in Canada despite lower prices. Without the huge marketing and lobby costs, they earn just as much on each dosage.

__________________
John Shellenberg
1998 C230 "Black Betty" 240K

I'd like to see figures to back that up. I don't have figures at hand to refute it, but I know that cannot be correct. The marketing and lobbying they do here is needed BECAUSE of much lower prices in places like Canada, lack of reasonable patent protections in many countries, and free rides for Third World countries, etc...

Mike

__________________
_____
1979 300 SD
350,000 miles
_____
1982 300D-gone---sold to a buddy
_____
1985 300TD
270,000 miles
_____
1994 E320
not my favorite, but the wife wanted it

www.myspace.com/mikemover
www.myspace.com/openskystudio
www.myspace.com/speedxband
www.myspace.com/openskyseparators
www.myspace.com/doubledrivemusic

Why is the drug industry so special? Other businesses spend tons of money on R&D but they have to COMPETE with others in the free market. Why is the drug industry so unique? Because they want us and the politicians to think they are unique. They spend billions of dollars on marketing which they did not do before. Nobody is asking the drug companies to sell at low profits, just a fair reasonable profit, which they are not doing in this country.

If drug industry is doing the "RIGHT" thing like you abviously agree, then why there are so many people in this country do not agree with your view? Because your view is not the consumers' view, but the view of the drug industry, their cronies, and some politicians. Talk to the seniors who live on SS and have to spend 1/3 their income on drugs. Talk to the seniors who only take half of the required dosage because they have to spend the rest of the money on food and shelter. Talk to the seniors who have to go to Canada and Mexico to shop for their drugs and tell them that you feel the drug companies are doing the right thing!!!

__________________
Flash Gordon

2003 E500 BlackOpal/Charcoal

2004 Infiniti G35X

Well, to start with, depending entirely on Social Security for your retirement and survival in old-age is a mistake to begin with, and anyone that has any faith in that system NOW is completely out of thier mind...

If I decide that the price of toilet paper is too high for me, or that the price of pizza or bottled water or underwear or light bulbs is too high for my "limited income", should the government force the producers of those products to lower thier prices? I think not.

I AM a consumer, so yes, mine IS a "consumer's viewpoint".

I'm not talking about treating the drug industry with any "special" considerations. I'm talking about NOT putting any unfair "special" RESTRICTIONS on them just because of the nature of the product they produce. If you invent something--not just drugs but ANYTHING--using your own R&D, and/or your own money and time, then you have a right to patent it according to the relevant patent laws, and to profit from it in any way you are legally able to do so. When the patent expires, then it's a new ballgame. Why should pharmaceuticals be any different than other products? Why should thier profits be arbitrarily limited while other companies that produce other products are not?

Mike

__________________
_____
1979 300 SD
350,000 miles
_____
1982 300D-gone---sold to a buddy
_____
1985 300TD
270,000 miles
_____
1994 E320
not my favorite, but the wife wanted it

www.myspace.com/mikemover
www.myspace.com/openskystudio
www.myspace.com/speedxband
www.myspace.com/openskyseparators
www.myspace.com/doubledrivemusic

"Why is the drug industry so special? Other businesses spend tons of money on R&D but they have to COMPETE with others in the free market. Why is the drug industry so unique? "

Nothing extraordinary about them. They make a product people want to buy. If they're treated fairly then the prices they ask will be set by the market, as with any other item in a free market.

When folks start noodling around with market prices all kinds of unintended consequences ensue. Medicare pays a set amount for certain services. If the payment is insufficent to cover costs of the doctor's office, who will make-up the difference? Thus, the average cost for healthcare for the insured or self-covered goes up while the medicare-covered stays constant. The next year the cost of an office visit is computed, less Medicare and that is used to budget Medicare expenses. Now some folks might think the government contributes to the inflation rate....

It used to be cost-effective for doctors to make housecalls. It changed, coincidentally, when medicare came in.

Botnst

Martin gives provinces health care money

By DENNIS BUECKERT



Prime Minister Paul Martin heads a meeting with the provincial premiers and territorial leaders. (CP/Tom Hanson)
OTTAWA (CP) - Prime Minister Paul Martin agreed Friday to hand over $2 billion in new health-care cash to the provinces, but wouldn't promise a deal to ensure long-term funding increases.

Martin emerged from his meeting with the country's premiers saying there had been "major progress." New Brunswick Premier Bernard Lord called it a "small step." The premiers went into the meeting saying they would not be satisfied with the extra one-time contribution of $2 billion that former prime minister Jean Chretien promised last year contingent on a federal surplus.

They indicated they wanted a long-term commitment to sustainable funding that would relieve them of having to beg for cash year after year.

Martin wouldn't go that far, citing tight financial circumstances. But he acknowledged that funding will have to increase and agreed that the first ministers will meet again in the summer to discuss ways of guaranteeing the sustainability of health care.

"There are differences of opinion," Martin said. "But none of those got in the way of what I believe is a substantial step forward."

P.E.I. Premier Pat Binns, chair of the premiers, said the $2 billion and the promise of future discussions was "welcome news."

"But I must point out that health care in this country requires a lot of money and $2 billion will roughly sustain the public health system in Canada for about eight days.

"The reality is that health care is not a one-time program, it's an ongoing priority that merits adequate, stable and predictable funding."

The premiers want the federal share of health funding increased to 25 per cent from the current level, which they estimate at 16-17 per cent.

The federal government claims it is contributing its fair share but that much of the contribution is in the form of taxation power that was transferred to the provinces in 1977.

Polls have shown that health care is the top priority of Canadians across the country.

The leaders also discussed cities, trade, Canada-U.S. relations, emergency management of disasters such as SARS, and other issues.

...uh, I believe that over 3/4 of all drug research in the United States is funded by American taxpayers via funding allocations from the National Institutes of Health--much of this research is actually conducted on public research university campuses So much for the much vaunted innovation of private enterprise. Damn corporate grifters...

"According to a 1995 Massachusetts Institute of Technology* study, 11 of the 14 most medically significant drugs developed in the United States between 1970 and 1995 originated with government-funded research.

$500 million in public money funded research and testing for Taxol (the best-selling cancer drug ever), beginning in the 1960s—decades before its commercial debut.

So what return did taxpayers get from this potentially lucrative investment that could have reduced our taxes or made cancer treatment affordable to all? Nothing.

Actually, worse than nothing.

First, the National Institutes of Health granted exclusive production rights to Bristol-Myers Squibb Inc. for a pitiful 0.5% royalty. Then Americans paid the corporation $687 million between 1994-1999 alone for Taxol purchases via Medicare at markups that would make street drug dealers blush—up to 2000 percent over production costs! Such profit margins would be impossible without the government-created monopoly that resembles corporate socialism more than a free market.

Meanwhile, we’ve collected just $35 million in royalties, and Squibb executives gain more through investments in politicians than Taxol research. And while import tariffs rarely increase product prices more than 25 percent, patent-protected monopolies can gouge us for 20 times the cost we'd see in a free, competitive market. Thus pharmaceutical manufacturers enjoy a stunning median profit margin of 17 percent—more than five times the median for Fortune 500 industries."

*Cockburn and Henderson, “Public-Private Interaction and the Productivity of Pharmaceutical Research,” MIT, 1995). Other studies have yielded similar results. See Joint Economic Committee, “The Benefits of Medical Research and the Role of the NIH,” May 2000)

Other Sources:
~http://www.biomedcentral.com/news/20030610/03/
~http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d03829.pdf (large pdf file--US Gov't report)
~"The Great Taxol Giveaway" by Daniel Newman in the Multinational Monitor. May, 1992.

http://www.reclaimdemocracy.org/global_corporatization/corporate_capitalism_freetrade.html

Hey, seniors don't have to worry about the cost of drugs and having good retirement plans anymore! A friend of mine has devised an excellent solution! Check it out....

No need for assisted living:

With the average cost for a nursing home per day reaching $188.00, there is a better way when we get old & feeble. I have already checked on reservations at the Holiday Inn.

For a combined long term stay discount and senior discount, it's an average of $49.23 per night. That leaves $138.77 a day for: breakfast, lunch and dinner in any restaurant I want, or room service. Laundry, gratuities and special TV movies. Plus, they provide a swimming pool, a workout room, a lounge, washer, dryer, etc. Most have free toothpaste and razors, and all have free shampoo and soap.

They treat you like a customer, not a patient. $5 worth of tips a day will have the entire staff scrambling to help you. There is a city bus stop out front, and seniors ride free. The handicap bus will also pick you up (if you fake a decent limp). To meet other nice people, call a church bus on Sundays. For a change of scenery, take the airport shuttle bus and eat at one of the nice restaurants there. While you're at the airport, fly somewhere.

Otherwise, your extra cash keeps building up, so you can easily afford those important pharmaceuticals, like Viagra!

It often takes MONTHS to get into decent nursing homes. Holiday Inn will take your reservation TODAY! And you are not stuck in one place forever, you can move from Inn to Inn, or even from city to city. Want to see Hawaii? They have a Holiday Inn there too! Never got a chance to visit Disney World? There's a Holiday Inn for you there as well!

TV broken? Light bulbs need changing? Toilet won't flush? Need a mattress replaced?

No problem.

They fix everything and even apologize for the inconvenience.

The Inn has a night security person and daily room service. The maid checks to see if you are OK. If not, they will call the undertaker or an ambulance. If you fall and break a hip, Medicare will pay for the hip, and Holiday Inn will upgrade you to a suite for the rest of your life.

And no worries about family visits.... They will always be glad to find you, and probably check in for a few days of mini-vacation. The grandkids can use the pool, and the maids will clean up after them!

Another BIG PLUS: The Holiday Inn won't ask for all of your income, AND.... you won't have to pay any property taxes like you would if you were able to stay in your own home! What more can you ask for? Sounds like a deal to me! So, when I reach that golden age I'll face it with a grin. Just forward all email to: me@Holiday.Inn

_________________



Mike

__________________
_____
1979 300 SD
350,000 miles
_____
1982 300D-gone---sold to a buddy
_____
1985 300TD
270,000 miles
_____
1994 E320
not my favorite, but the wife wanted it

www.myspace.com/mikemover
www.myspace.com/openskystudio
www.myspace.com/speedxband
www.myspace.com/openskyseparators
www.myspace.com/doubledrivemusic