Questioner, I am so sorry to hear about your friend. What a blessing you have been to this person!
I'm glad to hear that science has been able to offer a treatment that has helped your friend. But, I think the price tag of that treatment is obscene. Knowing what I know about the drug industry, I believe their primary objective is to exploit the suffering of those like your friend. (Note: I am referring to the industry as a whole, not individual researchers and doctors who generally are very STO motivated and earnestly trying to help others.)
This is such a complex issue. On the one hand, it's wonderful that medical advances have been made. On the other hand, it's an illustration of the very STS nature of the monetary profit system taken to the extreme, in which life-saving products are prohibitively expensive for most average people, and wipe out the life savings of an individual in the blink of an eye.
In the US, the #1 cause of bankruptcy is medical bills. The top 10 pharmaceutical companies' combined income is more than the other 490 Fortune 500 companies put together! This is outrageous when considered that oil companies are included in those 490 companies.
The US spends more on disease management than on all other industrialized nations put together, yet ranks #38 in the world for health and longevity, according to WHO statistics (right below Cuba!).
It's a travesty.
(10-08-2010, 11:28 AM)Questioner Wrote: Over the counter coverage of that chemical is about $10,000 per month.
I'm glad to hear that science has been able to offer a treatment that has helped your friend. But, I think the price tag of that treatment is obscene. Knowing what I know about the drug industry, I believe their primary objective is to exploit the suffering of those like your friend. (Note: I am referring to the industry as a whole, not individual researchers and doctors who generally are very STO motivated and earnestly trying to help others.)
This is such a complex issue. On the one hand, it's wonderful that medical advances have been made. On the other hand, it's an illustration of the very STS nature of the monetary profit system taken to the extreme, in which life-saving products are prohibitively expensive for most average people, and wipe out the life savings of an individual in the blink of an eye.
In the US, the #1 cause of bankruptcy is medical bills. The top 10 pharmaceutical companies' combined income is more than the other 490 Fortune 500 companies put together! This is outrageous when considered that oil companies are included in those 490 companies.
The US spends more on disease management than on all other industrialized nations put together, yet ranks #38 in the world for health and longevity, according to WHO statistics (right below Cuba!).
It's a travesty.