Potential New Antibiotics??
- Thread starter anonymous
- Start date
This is one of the biggest misconceptions about pharmaceuticals.
You aren't paying for the packaging or ingredients.
You are paying for 10 years of research and development.
You're paying for scientists salaries.
You are paying for million dollar clinical trials required by the FDA to prove not only efficacy, but also safety.
You're paying for the equipment used to develop the drug.
This adds up to about $800 million. THIS is why you pay a pretty penny for the drug.
Typically pharmacuetical companies have millions of patients that they can make up the $800 million with. In Chiron's case with TOBI - there are only 30,000 of us. It's simple economics.
Chiron isn't a charity organization. They must re-coup costs like any other company.
And thank God a company decided to invest in our disease. What would many of us do without TOBI?
How many more hospitalizations a year would you have? <b><u>How much more would you pay for your hospitalizations ever year versus your TOBI cost????????</b></u>
You aren't paying for the packaging or ingredients.
You are paying for 10 years of research and development.
You're paying for scientists salaries.
You are paying for million dollar clinical trials required by the FDA to prove not only efficacy, but also safety.
You're paying for the equipment used to develop the drug.
This adds up to about $800 million. THIS is why you pay a pretty penny for the drug.
Typically pharmacuetical companies have millions of patients that they can make up the $800 million with. In Chiron's case with TOBI - there are only 30,000 of us. It's simple economics.
Chiron isn't a charity organization. They must re-coup costs like any other company.
And thank God a company decided to invest in our disease. What would many of us do without TOBI?
How many more hospitalizations a year would you have? <b><u>How much more would you pay for your hospitalizations ever year versus your TOBI cost????????</b></u>
I understand the argument that the drug companies must recoup the cost of research and development. The same is true in many other industries. But how come the electronics industry is able to recoup their R & D costs plus continually LOWER the cost of the product over time? For example, the first computer produced cost $5 million dollars. But over time, that same computer manufactured by the same company came down to a few thousand. Same with televisions, palm pilots, etc. But drugs never come down in price until the generics are allowed into the market. CHIRON will never lower the price of TOBI, but IBM definitely lowered the price of its PCs.
I don't really have any issue with them making money off of their investment. My problem is with our ultra crappy healthcare system that makes drugs and care unaffordable.
We have something rediculous like 200+ million people in this country with zero health insurance, and medicare is basically a joke (for those that really have big requirements for drugs). If you are able to work, most of the policies out there through companies are laughable if you have some type of chronic illness like say CF (or something not real bad, but still chronic that requires a ton of medication to live with it). I know countless people with jobs, some real high end jobs with real huge companies, and only a few of these people have real good all encompassing health care coverage (my mother is one of them, i've been on it for a while thank god).
We need universal healthcare in this country, something that people who do work can pay a small amount into (like how much goes into social security each now), and get all their medical care taken care of and prescription drugs taken care of. And especially so for the chronically/terminally ill.
Our governments Black Op budget alone is in the ball park of 70 BILLION dollars. Our government is involved in a senseless war in Iraq that is projected to cost us in the ballpark of over 700 BILLION dollars. Our government spends billions a year on senseless worthless studies such as finding out if female mice are indeed sexually aroused by male mice salive when eating communal mouse pellets. NASA (and I'm all for the space program, as long as the research leads to benefits to the human race advancement wise) spends billions on probes to go to places where while it's nice to know/see what is there, our current technology won't allow us to go there within a reasonable budget or loss of human life (Last estimate, a manned trip to mars would cost around 450 BILLION dollars and probably kill the entire crew). Add to that what it's costing us to be in Afghanistan (an equally rediculous amount, thought atleast we had a reason to invade there), then a probably war/invasion with Iran, then possibly North Korea, and how out of control our government is irresponsibly spending wise, and it should make you sick.
Meanwhile there tons of people with zero health coverage, those who have to decide on eating OR taking life saving medication, people (like many here) who can't get married for fear of losing what little form of benefits they have...And the list goes on and on.
The corruption and financial bedfellows and general BS runs very deep. There is no reason (besides those reasons) why we can't have good quality, all encompassing universal very affordable universal health care in this country. Everyone should be in a system that looks at how much each person makes, and scales accordingly % wise, a pretty small amount what you have to pay, and then the government subsadises the rest.
We have something rediculous like 200+ million people in this country with zero health insurance, and medicare is basically a joke (for those that really have big requirements for drugs). If you are able to work, most of the policies out there through companies are laughable if you have some type of chronic illness like say CF (or something not real bad, but still chronic that requires a ton of medication to live with it). I know countless people with jobs, some real high end jobs with real huge companies, and only a few of these people have real good all encompassing health care coverage (my mother is one of them, i've been on it for a while thank god).
We need universal healthcare in this country, something that people who do work can pay a small amount into (like how much goes into social security each now), and get all their medical care taken care of and prescription drugs taken care of. And especially so for the chronically/terminally ill.
Our governments Black Op budget alone is in the ball park of 70 BILLION dollars. Our government is involved in a senseless war in Iraq that is projected to cost us in the ballpark of over 700 BILLION dollars. Our government spends billions a year on senseless worthless studies such as finding out if female mice are indeed sexually aroused by male mice salive when eating communal mouse pellets. NASA (and I'm all for the space program, as long as the research leads to benefits to the human race advancement wise) spends billions on probes to go to places where while it's nice to know/see what is there, our current technology won't allow us to go there within a reasonable budget or loss of human life (Last estimate, a manned trip to mars would cost around 450 BILLION dollars and probably kill the entire crew). Add to that what it's costing us to be in Afghanistan (an equally rediculous amount, thought atleast we had a reason to invade there), then a probably war/invasion with Iran, then possibly North Korea, and how out of control our government is irresponsibly spending wise, and it should make you sick.
Meanwhile there tons of people with zero health coverage, those who have to decide on eating OR taking life saving medication, people (like many here) who can't get married for fear of losing what little form of benefits they have...And the list goes on and on.
The corruption and financial bedfellows and general BS runs very deep. There is no reason (besides those reasons) why we can't have good quality, all encompassing universal very affordable universal health care in this country. Everyone should be in a system that looks at how much each person makes, and scales accordingly % wise, a pretty small amount what you have to pay, and then the government subsadises the rest.
Great question. And this can also be answered through economics.
Any industry that is highly regulated tends to have higher costs associated with its product.
The computer or electronics industry doesn't have to report to a government agency to demonstrate safety and efficacy. If someone creates a computer, they can just bring it straight to market. If someone develops a drug, they have to enroll patients, that are willing to risk their lives, to test the efficacy. THey have to pay the patients to be in the trial. They have to pay the study administrators (have to be physicians and/or PharmD's) and make it worth their while or else they wouldn't participate. Someone has to bring together all the data and work with the FDA. The FDA isn't the most efficient organization. So even if your data is ready for review, the FDA may not review it because they're reviewing something else. So as a pharma company, you just sit there contemplating your naval until the FDA decides its time to review.
Again, most other industries don't have to go through so many regulatory hoops. And I'm not saying it's wrong - because I only want to take safe meds myself. But it does add to the cost, for sure.
But when meds go generic, their price does drop dramatically. So in this case, like you mentioned the price of a computer drops, so does the price of a med after time when it goes generic.
IBM wouldn't have lowered the price of PC's if there weren't other manufacturers of PC's. They lowered it because of competition.... by Dell, Gateway, Apple, etc.
Chiron has exclusivity to TOBI for a period of time. Its called a patent. And if the federal government didn't issue patents to pharmacuetical manufacturers, drug development would come to a hault. Who would spend $800 million developing a drug only to have it copied a few days later by another company who didn't have to pay a single dime towards that R&D?
After the patent is over, competition is on.
Any industry that is highly regulated tends to have higher costs associated with its product.
The computer or electronics industry doesn't have to report to a government agency to demonstrate safety and efficacy. If someone creates a computer, they can just bring it straight to market. If someone develops a drug, they have to enroll patients, that are willing to risk their lives, to test the efficacy. THey have to pay the patients to be in the trial. They have to pay the study administrators (have to be physicians and/or PharmD's) and make it worth their while or else they wouldn't participate. Someone has to bring together all the data and work with the FDA. The FDA isn't the most efficient organization. So even if your data is ready for review, the FDA may not review it because they're reviewing something else. So as a pharma company, you just sit there contemplating your naval until the FDA decides its time to review.
Again, most other industries don't have to go through so many regulatory hoops. And I'm not saying it's wrong - because I only want to take safe meds myself. But it does add to the cost, for sure.
But when meds go generic, their price does drop dramatically. So in this case, like you mentioned the price of a computer drops, so does the price of a med after time when it goes generic.
IBM wouldn't have lowered the price of PC's if there weren't other manufacturers of PC's. They lowered it because of competition.... by Dell, Gateway, Apple, etc.
Chiron has exclusivity to TOBI for a period of time. Its called a patent. And if the federal government didn't issue patents to pharmacuetical manufacturers, drug development would come to a hault. Who would spend $800 million developing a drug only to have it copied a few days later by another company who didn't have to pay a single dime towards that R&D?
After the patent is over, competition is on.
<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote><i>Originally posted by: <b>SeanDavis</b></i>
I don't really have any issue with them making money off of their investment. My problem is with our ultra crappy healthcare system that makes drugs and care unaffordable.
We have something rediculous like 200+ million people in this country with zero health insurance, and medicare is basically a joke (for those that really have big requirements for drugs). If you are able to work, most of the policies out there through companies are laughable if you have some type of chronic illness like say CF (or something not real bad, but still chronic that requires a ton of medication to live with it). I know countless people with jobs, some real high end jobs with real huge companies, and only a few of these people have real good all encompassing health care coverage (my mother is one of them, i've been on it for a while thank god).
We need universal healthcare in this country, something that people who do work can pay a small amount into (like how much goes into social security each now), and get all their medical care taken care of and prescription drugs taken care of. And especially so for the chronically/terminally ill.
Our governments Black Op budget alone is in the ball park of 70 BILLION dollars. Our government is involved in a senseless war in Iraq that is projected to cost us in the ballpark of over 700 BILLION dollars. Our government spends billions a year on senseless worthless studies such as finding out if female mice are indeed sexually aroused by male mice salive when eating communal mouse pellets. NASA (and I'm all for the space program, as long as the research leads to benefits to the human race advancement wise) spends billions on probes to go to places where while it's nice to know/see what is there, our current technology won't allow us to go there within a reasonable budget or loss of human life (Last estimate, a manned trip to mars would cost around 450 BILLION dollars and probably kill the entire crew). Add to that what it's costing us to be in Afghanistan (an equally rediculous amount, thought atleast we had a reason to invade there), then a probably war/invasion with Iran, then possibly North Korea, and how out of control our government is irresponsibly spending wise, and it should make you sick.
Meanwhile there tons of people with zero health coverage, those who have to decide on eating OR taking life saving medication, people (like many here) who can't get married for fear of losing what little form of benefits they have...And the list goes on and on.
The corruption and financial bedfellows and general BS runs very deep. There is no reason (besides those reasons) why we can't have good quality, all encompassing universal very affordable universal health care in this country. Everyone should be in a system that looks at how much each person makes, and scales accordingly % wise, a pretty small amount what you have to pay, and then the government subsadises the rest.</end quote></div>
Look at other countries with socialized medicine. They can't even get the Vest. People in Europe rarely use TOBI because governments won't pay for it - they have to use Collistin. I saw a post in the Families section asking how to get ADEK's. Thousands of people come from Canada to the US to get surgery because the wait is so damn long over there. That's what you want for health care??????
I pay a bucket-load for my health care, but I feel like what I get is much better than in Canada or Europe......
I don't really have any issue with them making money off of their investment. My problem is with our ultra crappy healthcare system that makes drugs and care unaffordable.
We have something rediculous like 200+ million people in this country with zero health insurance, and medicare is basically a joke (for those that really have big requirements for drugs). If you are able to work, most of the policies out there through companies are laughable if you have some type of chronic illness like say CF (or something not real bad, but still chronic that requires a ton of medication to live with it). I know countless people with jobs, some real high end jobs with real huge companies, and only a few of these people have real good all encompassing health care coverage (my mother is one of them, i've been on it for a while thank god).
We need universal healthcare in this country, something that people who do work can pay a small amount into (like how much goes into social security each now), and get all their medical care taken care of and prescription drugs taken care of. And especially so for the chronically/terminally ill.
Our governments Black Op budget alone is in the ball park of 70 BILLION dollars. Our government is involved in a senseless war in Iraq that is projected to cost us in the ballpark of over 700 BILLION dollars. Our government spends billions a year on senseless worthless studies such as finding out if female mice are indeed sexually aroused by male mice salive when eating communal mouse pellets. NASA (and I'm all for the space program, as long as the research leads to benefits to the human race advancement wise) spends billions on probes to go to places where while it's nice to know/see what is there, our current technology won't allow us to go there within a reasonable budget or loss of human life (Last estimate, a manned trip to mars would cost around 450 BILLION dollars and probably kill the entire crew). Add to that what it's costing us to be in Afghanistan (an equally rediculous amount, thought atleast we had a reason to invade there), then a probably war/invasion with Iran, then possibly North Korea, and how out of control our government is irresponsibly spending wise, and it should make you sick.
Meanwhile there tons of people with zero health coverage, those who have to decide on eating OR taking life saving medication, people (like many here) who can't get married for fear of losing what little form of benefits they have...And the list goes on and on.
The corruption and financial bedfellows and general BS runs very deep. There is no reason (besides those reasons) why we can't have good quality, all encompassing universal very affordable universal health care in this country. Everyone should be in a system that looks at how much each person makes, and scales accordingly % wise, a pretty small amount what you have to pay, and then the government subsadises the rest.</end quote></div>
Look at other countries with socialized medicine. They can't even get the Vest. People in Europe rarely use TOBI because governments won't pay for it - they have to use Collistin. I saw a post in the Families section asking how to get ADEK's. Thousands of people come from Canada to the US to get surgery because the wait is so damn long over there. That's what you want for health care??????
I pay a bucket-load for my health care, but I feel like what I get is much better than in Canada or Europe......
everyone knows how i feel about tobi. im glad we dont have tobi propaganda constantly shoved down our throats here. people have done fine with preservative free tobramycin for injection and will continue to do so. putting an extra burden on people just to have a brand name would be stupid. im glad our government sees that. amy, you sound like someone who would support drug companies making, for example, pre mixed hypertonic saline, giving it a fancy new name, flogging it for 10 times to price and convincing patients its 'way better' than making it yourself. but for me, no thanks. i know better <img src="http://forums.vogue.com.au/images/smilies/newsmiles/eusa_hand.gif">
em·pa·thy
1. Identification with and understanding of another's situation, feelings, and motives.
seems some are lacking in this lately...
em·pa·thy
1. Identification with and understanding of another's situation, feelings, and motives.
seems some are lacking in this lately...
They are also not the richest country on the planet. I'm not saying "free tax based healthcare/socialized medicine". I'm saying we need a healthcare system that places some financial responsibility upon each person, dependent upon their earnings, just like social security does now. Keep the actual number of the % static, but the value will of cource fluctuate dependening on what someone earns. Someone who is working slightly above minimum wage would obviously put much less into it than say Bill Gates, but Gates shouldn't have to be bent over either. The government should subsadise the rest of what is left over. Just for the sake of discussion, someone who makes say 35k a year would have to pay say 100 bucks a month (it's just a number, it's just to show my general idea, it could be anything what someone would consider reasonable), and either have to pay quite low copays for medications, or get them free. Maybe dependent on what tax bracket they fall into.
What I am talking about sounds like the best PPO/HMO you could find, but with a better copay system. The problem is, medicare surely has it's flaws, and not everyone can be with a company that has the best plan(s).
We are the richest, most powerful country on the planet. It's an absolute travesty every single person doesn't have quality, all encompassing, very affordable healthcare.
What I am talking about sounds like the best PPO/HMO you could find, but with a better copay system. The problem is, medicare surely has it's flaws, and not everyone can be with a company that has the best plan(s).
We are the richest, most powerful country on the planet. It's an absolute travesty every single person doesn't have quality, all encompassing, very affordable healthcare.
What is going to happen when the powdered version of Tobi is to market. My guess is that powdered version of Tobi will be more expensive then the current version of Tobi as the patent will be running out on the current version. I can just see it now, my insurance company will not pay for the powdered version because the cheaper version is available and has been proven just as effective. This would mean that I won't be able to get the time saving benifit of the powder version unless I want to pay for it myself.
sean, i can tell ya now if i were ever charged 40 bucks for hypertonic id end up going down to the ocean and snorting the seawater haha. no way someone is charging me 40 bucks for something thats only worth 5 bucks! universal healthcare can work if done right. the only reason it doesnt work for alot countries is because theyve made some silly rule/benefit somewhere down the track that just sucks everything dry. for example, in australia, we made the mistake of making anything inside the hospital completely free. if we had a system where we paid small subsidised fees everytime we wanted a hospital service and have our medicare pick up the rest, we wouldnt be in the mess we are now. not to mention the government has made it way too easy for scammers to get health care cards and pensions. i see no reason for bashing universal healthcare-done-right.
Nod. But it's common here in the states for Hypertonic to go for 40+ bucks for a month supply. I have heard it is considerably higher in other countries. The CF pharmacy my docs helper wanted to set me up with, I believe they were charging 45 bucks. Screw that in the ear, especially so because I feel great anyways with the OO and what i've been doing. I would like to try HS, but I spend enough as it is now between all my copays, supplements, OO, and my new medicare part D drug plan premium. Sure if I really wanted to I could pay for it, it's not like i'm broke. But to be honest, I just totally refuse to pay someone 40+ bucks for them to give me what is essentially sterile salt water.
I've said it before, if I really thought it would help me, i'd find a way to make a fairly comparable, fairly safe version of it myself. I'm just curious what type of salt they are using is all. Aside from that, it's not hard to sterile the salt with heat/microwave/UV light, and the same goes for distilled water. You just have to sterile both components, and mix them to the appropriate ratio. I mean come on, it's SALT WATER. Not like we are talking about making pulmozyme or something.
I've said it before, if I really thought it would help me, i'd find a way to make a fairly comparable, fairly safe version of it myself. I'm just curious what type of salt they are using is all. Aside from that, it's not hard to sterile the salt with heat/microwave/UV light, and the same goes for distilled water. You just have to sterile both components, and mix them to the appropriate ratio. I mean come on, it's SALT WATER. Not like we are talking about making pulmozyme or something.
Sean, is the 40 you are paying a co-pay or the entire cost? My insurance is now paying for this at a generic co-pay, $25 dollars for 3 month supply. Now, another "trick", ask your doctor to write the script saying "4 times a day as needed". They will then send you supply to cover 4 times per day, when in reality you only do it most of the time 2x per day. So for $25 I can get an approx 6 month supply. My albutoral script is written the same way. I only do 2x per day except when I am sick I will add extra doses in "as needed".
I agree that our healthcare costs in this country are crazy...even crazier is that so many are without insurance. It seems that the only way you can get affordable or free insurance is if you fall within the very poor or the fairly wealthy categories. The middle class tends to have a very hard time getting or affording insurance...state insurance is difficult to get because they make too much and sometimes through their jobs, the premiums are crazy. Yes, I know that there are a lucky few who have managable insurance premiums. I know...I was one of those middle class workers at one time. It seemed that everytime I turned around, those deductions from my paycheck were increasing and the coverage was getting worse. I really feel for those who have small businesses and have to buy insurance outright...my dad falls under that category. He is too young to get Mediccare but needs the health care. He makes too much for Medicaid, so he has to buy insurance. On a positive note, some states are beginning to institute insurance at a lower cost for these small business owners. In NY, it is called Healthy NY. They also are beginning to help those who make too much for medicaid to provide insurance for their kids (Child health plus), even if they make a substantial amount of money. I think that is great, as my kids are taken care of that way, otherwise they would have no insurance for my kids as I make too much money for Medicaid, even though I am on disability.
When I was growing up, my mother actually made too much to get any state help regarding insurance for our family even though she was supporting 5 kids by herself!!! So, lucky I wasn't too sickly or any other of my other siblings for that matter (I wasn't diagnosed with CF until last year) or I don't know what she would do. There weren't any programs out there to help us then.
As far as others who need meds, try the companies that make the meds...alot of them do have programs that help those who have limited funds. I know of the TOBI foundation. Other good resources include your doctor. In my case, my doctor does have an individual who specializes in low income folks who need meds and helps them get it via federal programs etc....
Also, many hospitals have funds set aside for those who do not have insurance or cannot cover the entire bill. I know the hospital I go to does indeed have this program, I have actually taken advantage of this. If you do go into the hospital, ask for the financial advisor, he or she will hopefully be able to help you with the bills, apply for the appropriate programs etc..Case workers are also helpful too.
I also agree that med costs are crazy, even if it takes R&D 10 years to bring it to market. Who in reality's sake can afford the $3000+ it costs for 28 days of TOBI or even the costs of other meds like those for reflux, heart meds (can be pricey), and oh, let's not forget the Creon, if they didn't qualify for help?
When I was a nurse, I often did admission interviews on the new incoming patients. Do you know how many of them did not take their prescribed meds because they could not afford them? (Particularly the elderly who were on fixed incomes and had absolutely no insurance coverage...pre Medicare D). Most of these people had chronic medical issues, like congestive heart failure, COPD or diabetes, but had to hold off on their meds at times because they needed to eat or had another expense that needed to be taken care of. Many times, the docs felt that their exacerbations of their illnesses were related to the fact that they didn't take their meds (they called it non compliant...yeah, there were those who were non compliant but many didn't take their meds because they couldn't afford them every month)
Okay, that's my rant....
Hey Sean, have you ever seen the documentary "Super Size Me"? It really is an eye opener as far as discussing how eating fast foods and lack of physical eductation in our schools and its impact on our health as well as our children's, partidularly obesity issues. (I know alot of those with CF don't have an obesity issue, but about 60% of Americans are considered either overweight or obese) The main character (Morgan) in the movie basically goes on a one month binge on McDonalds, eating nothing but McDonald products for 30 days while being monitored by a cardiologist, GI doc, a registered dietitian and a primary doc to see how this would affect his health. He gets regular blood draws to check his bodily functions. In the end, he gains something like 25lbs in one month, his liver turns to fat and becomes inflamed and experiencing other problem such as palpitations and chest pains. People say that most people don't eat that much fast food, but sadly, there are people who eat it more than once a day! Of course, during the movie, many other issues are discussed such as gastric bypass, how companies spend so much money advertising foods on TV, in magazines etc....
I really like the quote presented in the movie: "We don't have health care in America, we have sick care"
AS far as the article goes, I am glad that they are indeed working on new meds for resistant bugs...we need more of them as the bacteria grow smarter. Right now there are only a handful of drugs out there that can combat bugs like MRSA and VRE, so my fingers are crossed!
Hugs, Jenn <img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif" border="0">
When I was growing up, my mother actually made too much to get any state help regarding insurance for our family even though she was supporting 5 kids by herself!!! So, lucky I wasn't too sickly or any other of my other siblings for that matter (I wasn't diagnosed with CF until last year) or I don't know what she would do. There weren't any programs out there to help us then.
As far as others who need meds, try the companies that make the meds...alot of them do have programs that help those who have limited funds. I know of the TOBI foundation. Other good resources include your doctor. In my case, my doctor does have an individual who specializes in low income folks who need meds and helps them get it via federal programs etc....
Also, many hospitals have funds set aside for those who do not have insurance or cannot cover the entire bill. I know the hospital I go to does indeed have this program, I have actually taken advantage of this. If you do go into the hospital, ask for the financial advisor, he or she will hopefully be able to help you with the bills, apply for the appropriate programs etc..Case workers are also helpful too.
I also agree that med costs are crazy, even if it takes R&D 10 years to bring it to market. Who in reality's sake can afford the $3000+ it costs for 28 days of TOBI or even the costs of other meds like those for reflux, heart meds (can be pricey), and oh, let's not forget the Creon, if they didn't qualify for help?
When I was a nurse, I often did admission interviews on the new incoming patients. Do you know how many of them did not take their prescribed meds because they could not afford them? (Particularly the elderly who were on fixed incomes and had absolutely no insurance coverage...pre Medicare D). Most of these people had chronic medical issues, like congestive heart failure, COPD or diabetes, but had to hold off on their meds at times because they needed to eat or had another expense that needed to be taken care of. Many times, the docs felt that their exacerbations of their illnesses were related to the fact that they didn't take their meds (they called it non compliant...yeah, there were those who were non compliant but many didn't take their meds because they couldn't afford them every month)
Okay, that's my rant....
Hey Sean, have you ever seen the documentary "Super Size Me"? It really is an eye opener as far as discussing how eating fast foods and lack of physical eductation in our schools and its impact on our health as well as our children's, partidularly obesity issues. (I know alot of those with CF don't have an obesity issue, but about 60% of Americans are considered either overweight or obese) The main character (Morgan) in the movie basically goes on a one month binge on McDonalds, eating nothing but McDonald products for 30 days while being monitored by a cardiologist, GI doc, a registered dietitian and a primary doc to see how this would affect his health. He gets regular blood draws to check his bodily functions. In the end, he gains something like 25lbs in one month, his liver turns to fat and becomes inflamed and experiencing other problem such as palpitations and chest pains. People say that most people don't eat that much fast food, but sadly, there are people who eat it more than once a day! Of course, during the movie, many other issues are discussed such as gastric bypass, how companies spend so much money advertising foods on TV, in magazines etc....
I really like the quote presented in the movie: "We don't have health care in America, we have sick care"
AS far as the article goes, I am glad that they are indeed working on new meds for resistant bugs...we need more of them as the bacteria grow smarter. Right now there are only a handful of drugs out there that can combat bugs like MRSA and VRE, so my fingers are crossed!
Hugs, Jenn <img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif" border="0">
<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote><i>Originally posted by: <b>kybert</b></i>
amy, you sound like someone who would support drug companies making, for example, pre mixed hypertonic saline, giving it a fancy new name, flogging it for 10 times to price and convincing patients its 'way better' than making it yourself. </end quote></div>
no one's forcing anyone to take TOBI. if you're cool with the old tobramycin, then that's cool.
but the key is options. if someone wants the TOBI, then it's available. if someone doesn't, there's no problem there.
and for your info, i don't support drug scams like Claritin vs. Clarinex or Prisolec vs. Nexium. Those are simply active metabolites of their parent drugs and have identical efficacy. so your assumption is incorrect.
amy, you sound like someone who would support drug companies making, for example, pre mixed hypertonic saline, giving it a fancy new name, flogging it for 10 times to price and convincing patients its 'way better' than making it yourself. </end quote></div>
no one's forcing anyone to take TOBI. if you're cool with the old tobramycin, then that's cool.
but the key is options. if someone wants the TOBI, then it's available. if someone doesn't, there's no problem there.
and for your info, i don't support drug scams like Claritin vs. Clarinex or Prisolec vs. Nexium. Those are simply active metabolites of their parent drugs and have identical efficacy. so your assumption is incorrect.
<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote><i>Originally posted by: <b>SeanDavis</b></i>
We are the richest, most powerful country on the planet. It's an absolute travesty every single person doesn't have quality, all encompassing, very affordable healthcare.</end quote></div>
You know why we are the richest country on the planet?
A big part of it has to do with the fact that we dont' have as many social programs as Europe or Canada.
But I agree - people should have healthcare. And that's why I support Medicaid for the poor and PPA and Together Rx that give meds to those who can't afford.
And you'll love this Sean - I also am willing to pay for Starbucks on occasion because I know that 1/2 of the cost goes to healthcare. Starbucks gives even part-time employees comprehensive healthcare. The CEO has stated that he'll do whatever it takes, even raise prices, so that he doesn't have to cut helahtcare for his employees.
We are the richest, most powerful country on the planet. It's an absolute travesty every single person doesn't have quality, all encompassing, very affordable healthcare.</end quote></div>
You know why we are the richest country on the planet?
A big part of it has to do with the fact that we dont' have as many social programs as Europe or Canada.
But I agree - people should have healthcare. And that's why I support Medicaid for the poor and PPA and Together Rx that give meds to those who can't afford.
And you'll love this Sean - I also am willing to pay for Starbucks on occasion because I know that 1/2 of the cost goes to healthcare. Starbucks gives even part-time employees comprehensive healthcare. The CEO has stated that he'll do whatever it takes, even raise prices, so that he doesn't have to cut helahtcare for his employees.
Well, then there's also the fact that the US sales a lot of the drugs to countries with socialized medicine for waaaaay less than our own people pay for them (becuase these countries have caps on the drugs.) If the patent is w/a US based company, I say other countries should pay the same as Americans or do without the drug.
As far as socialized medicine, if Medicare Part D is any indication of what our govt will do with socialized medicine, I'd say we're really screwed.
Just my opinions<img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif" border="0">
As far as socialized medicine, if Medicare Part D is any indication of what our govt will do with socialized medicine, I'd say we're really screwed.
Just my opinions<img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif" border="0">
<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote><i>Originally posted by: <b>anonymous</b></i>
Well, then there's also the fact that the US sales a lot of the drugs to countries with socialized medicine for waaaaay less than our own people pay for them (becuase these countries have caps on the drugs.) If the patent is w/a US based company, I say other countries should pay the same as Americans or do without the drug.
As far as socialized medicine, if Medicare Part D is any indication of what our govt will do with socialized medicine, I'd say we're really screwed.
Just my opinions
</end quote></div>
You're a smart cookie. <img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif" border="0">
If European nations would let the free market reign as it does in the US for Rx meds, I think prices would decrease in the US.
<b>The bottomline is this - US patients subsidize drug research and development for the rest of the world. </b> Make no mistake about it.
In terms of US patents.... Every country has its own system of patents. Brazil, for example, threatened to take away Abbott Laboratory's AIDS drug patent if Abbott didn't decrease its price for the drug. Basically Brazil would reverse engineer the drug and sell it for 1/10 of the price.
Anyone want to take a guess why drug companies aren't puting much R&D into AIDS drugs now? BECAUSE EVERYONE AROUND THE WORLD IS DEMANDING THEM FOR FREE. Drug companies would rather invest their R&D where they can re-coup costs. Not have some country threaten to take away their patent. <b>So who get screwed? The poor AIDS patients who Brazil was trying to help in the 1st place.</b>
So European countries, or any for that matter , can do the same thing. If any pharmaceutical company decides that they wont' sell below a certain price, a country could decide to not uphold a patent and screw the pharma company.
Socalism almost never works and ends up hurting the consumer that it intends to help. If the US adopted the same policies that Europe and Canada have with regards to drug pricing, you would see a significant drop in drug R&D.... and that's just simple economics.
Well, then there's also the fact that the US sales a lot of the drugs to countries with socialized medicine for waaaaay less than our own people pay for them (becuase these countries have caps on the drugs.) If the patent is w/a US based company, I say other countries should pay the same as Americans or do without the drug.
As far as socialized medicine, if Medicare Part D is any indication of what our govt will do with socialized medicine, I'd say we're really screwed.
Just my opinions
You're a smart cookie. <img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif" border="0">
If European nations would let the free market reign as it does in the US for Rx meds, I think prices would decrease in the US.
<b>The bottomline is this - US patients subsidize drug research and development for the rest of the world. </b> Make no mistake about it.
In terms of US patents.... Every country has its own system of patents. Brazil, for example, threatened to take away Abbott Laboratory's AIDS drug patent if Abbott didn't decrease its price for the drug. Basically Brazil would reverse engineer the drug and sell it for 1/10 of the price.
Anyone want to take a guess why drug companies aren't puting much R&D into AIDS drugs now? BECAUSE EVERYONE AROUND THE WORLD IS DEMANDING THEM FOR FREE. Drug companies would rather invest their R&D where they can re-coup costs. Not have some country threaten to take away their patent. <b>So who get screwed? The poor AIDS patients who Brazil was trying to help in the 1st place.</b>
So European countries, or any for that matter , can do the same thing. If any pharmaceutical company decides that they wont' sell below a certain price, a country could decide to not uphold a patent and screw the pharma company.
Socalism almost never works and ends up hurting the consumer that it intends to help. If the US adopted the same policies that Europe and Canada have with regards to drug pricing, you would see a significant drop in drug R&D.... and that's just simple economics.