Miss USA: Health Care Is a Privilege, Not a Right...

[Meh Gerbil]

Where has he supported Trump, or said he does?

Edit: nevermind

I didn't vote for Trump.
I don't think people who lie about substantive matters should be in government.

I'm consistent on that point.

[Zymologist]

I didn't vote for Trump.
I don't think people who lie about substantive matters should be in government.

I'm consistent on that point.

So, would you say that you don't support Trump?

[Meh Gerbil]

So, would you say that you don't support Trump?

If I didn't vote for him or contribute to the campaign what would my support actually mean?
I enjoy having him as President because I like watching snowflakes cry.

[JimL]

You have to make hundreds of millions of dollars to risk hundreds of millions of dollars on a drug that may fail in testing.
I've worked with compounds that cost $50,000 a gram to produce and the drug failed to work in testing so it was discarded.

The end result: After blowing millions on testing the entire jar of the compound (millions of dollars to produce) was eventually dumped in the trash.

How about getting the entire story instead of putting together a hit piece?

Their profits are ginormous regardless. Stop whining for them.

[Sparko]

Their profits are ginormous regardless. Stop whining for them.

So is Microsoft's and Apple's - I don't see you condemning them or refusing to use their phones or computers.

[seer]

Their profits are ginormous regardless. Stop whining for them.

I''ll say it again Jim, it was these evil pharmaceuticals that just cured me and probably added 20 years to my life.

And Jim, you need to read this piece from the gay, leftist writer Andrew Sullivan:

http://www.nytimes.com/library/magaz...0D%0Awwln.html

[Meh Gerbil]

Their profits are ginormous regardless. Stop whining for them.

I'm not whining for the pharmaceutical companies.
I used a news report about pharmaceutical companies to whine about the media.

I illustrated how my direct knowledge of their business model put the lie to the 60 Minutes hit piece as a means of illustrating that my distrust of the media is based on personal experience.

It is possible that the pharmaceutical companies are abusing the system but there should be a way to do a report on that topic that isn't laced with lies, half-truths, and serious omissions.

[Sparko]

I''ll say it again Jim, it was these evil pharmaceuticals that just cured me and probably added 20 years to my life.

And Jim, you need to read this piece from the gay, leftist writer Andrew Sullivan:

http://www.nytimes.com/library/magaz...0D%0Awwln.html

If the zombie apocalypse ever comes, I will be dead in a couple of months. Without drugs, I wouldn't last very long. I have diabetes and have an organ transplant. I am on daily drugs to manage both. And more drugs to manage the side effects of those drugs.

But I do agree that the drug companies charge too much for some drugs. If I didn't have insurance I would be paying over $3000/month just to stay alive. That is ridiculous considering the stuff I am on is not even new.

[Meh Gerbil]

If the zombie apocalypse ever comes, I will be dead in a couple of months. Without drugs, I wouldn't last very long. I have diabetes and have an organ transplant. I am on daily drugs to manage both. And more drugs to manage the side effects of those drugs.

But I do agree that the drug companies charge too much for some drugs. If I didn't have insurance I would be paying over $3000/month just to stay alive. That is ridiculous considering the stuff I am on is not even new.

It would be interesting to see a comparison of what the drugs cost to produce vs. what they charge for the drugs.
I'd like to know the margins.

[Sparko]

It would be interesting to see a comparison of what the drugs cost to produce vs. what they charge for the drugs.
I'd like to know the margins.

I do understand the dilemma: lower the cost of drugs now, and reduce R&D into new drugs later. A short term win results in more cost and suffering later. Or we can pay through the nose now to fund research into curing more illnesses later.

What I am against is people like Martin Shkreli who bought a $20 drug and then raised the price to $1500, just because he was greedy. He had nothing to do with research into the drug (or any drug) and was not planning on pumping any profits back into research. That was pure greed.

[Meh Gerbil]

I do understand the dilemma: lower the cost of drugs now, and reduce R&D into new drugs later. A short term win results in more cost and suffering later. Or we can pay through the nose now to fund research into curing more illnesses later.

I'm confident that there is some abuse.
I was wondering if you were one of the victims.

Can you find out the cost of one prescription(per pill) and see if you can find the cost to make that pill?

[seer]

If the zombie apocalypse ever comes, I will be dead in a couple of months. Without drugs, I wouldn't last very long. I have diabetes and have an organ transplant. I am on daily drugs to manage both. And more drugs to manage the side effects of those drugs.

My liver was starting to fail because of Hep.C and now I'm cured and my liver function tests are near perfect.

[Sparko]

My liver was starting to fail because of Hep.C and now I'm cured and my liver function tests are near perfect.

Thank God! Yeah Hep C is what caused CP's friend Jim to lose his liver and need a transplant. I hope they can use that cure on him, because basically if not, he will just reinfect his new liver eventually.

[seer]

It would be interesting to see a comparison of what the drugs cost to produce vs. what they charge for the drugs.
I'd like to know the margins.

There are trade offs, from my previous link:

It would be wonderful if we could make the newest drugs affordable for anyone who needs them and keep the lifesaving research going. But cut prices and you cut profits. Cut profits and you cut research and development. Cut research and you slow new drug innovation. You may get cheaper and more widely available drugs in the short term, but you'll also get worse drugs in the long term, and risk ending the greatest era in research in memory. Don't big pharmaceuticals make enough money to take a hit? Sure, their profitability is slightly higher than some other industries -- but that barely offsets the unique risks the drug industry has to take. Of more than 5,000 potential medicines tested at some point in the lab, on average only 3 get into clinical trials, and only 1 is approved for patient use. In all, only 30 percent of drugs make enough money to recoup the cost of their own research, and the average time it took to bring a new drug to market in the 1990's was close to 15 years, at an average cost, according to Boston Consulting Group, of $500 million.

[seer]

Thank God! Yeah Hep C is what caused CP's friend Jim to lose his liver and need a transplant. I hope they can use that cure on him, because basically if not, he will just reinfect his new liver eventually.

The new Hep.C drugs are like 95% effective. At the office that was treating me it was 98% effective (cure rate). So he has a good shot!