Originally published November 6 2015
Online pharma magazine laments Clinton dust-up, says it brings too much focus on drug prices
by Ethan A. Huff, staff writer
(NaturalNews) Fierce Pharma, an online magazine that tracks developments in the pharmaceutical industry, is upset that Democratic presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders are calling Big Pharma to task for taking advantage of consumers with ridiculous drug price hikes.
Prompted by Turing Pharmaceuticals CEO Martin Shkreli's purchase and subsequent price gouging of decades-old drug Daraprim, Clinton turned to Twitter to chastise him for the outrageous price increase. Signing her name with an "H," indicating that it's a personal issue to her, Clinton promised to "lay out a plan" to deal with this serious issue as part of her running platform.
Before Shkreli's purchase, Daraprim — a drug relied on by AIDS and cancer patients — was sold for about $13.50 per pill. But after Shkreli seized it as his own, the price suddenly skyrocketed to an astounding $750 per pill, which isn't even anything close to the actual cost of its manufacture.
This greedy move generated hysteria throughout the media, shining a spotlight on the unscrupulous business practices of both Turing and Big Pharma as a whole. The national conversation has suddenly shifted towards holding drug companies accountable for their egregious actions in violation of the public trust, which, in this case, involves outrageously price gouging the sickest and most needy members of society.
To make matters worse, Fierce Pharma has taken to defending the drug industry, rather than consumers, on this issue. One of the publication's writers has even made the implication that patients are responsible "for their own rising pharmacy bills," all the while sympathizing with drug companies that increase prices using the excuse that this extra money is needed for "research and development."
Using words like "not a good sign" to describe Clinton's efforts to reign in this type of flagrant consumer abuse, Fierce Pharma further sides with drug industry greed as if price gouging is just par for the course. Drug companies are supposed to raise prices and make as much money as possible, we are told, because that's just what they do.
Big Pharma's money lust will become its undoing
Ironically, this is exactly what we've been saying about Big Pharma for years, receiving much denial and backlash from industry apologists in response. But now that Big Pharma greed has become an undeniable fact, the talking heads are starting to change their tune and defend what they long claimed wasn't even happening in the first place.
Shkreli's former tenure as a Wall Street hedge fund manager should tell you everything you need to know about his business practices. This snake oil salesman isn't in the pharmaceutical business to help people — he's in it to make fast cash on the backs of the sick who rely on his "medicines" to function and improve the quality of their lives.
And unfortunately, Shkreli isn't an exception — he's the rule. Time and time again, drug companies have proven to be more concerned about raking in the dough than they are about producing safe and effective medicines for patients. Just look at how many FDA-approved drugs that harm and kill people are still on the market today, generating massive profits for the drug industry.
This is what Americans will be focusing on during this upcoming election cycle, and the drug industry only has itself to blame.
Source:
FiercePharma.com
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