Community Chat

[novamc1]

Two weird/annoying things that I have observed about drugs and the companies producing them....

1.  All the money they are spending on advertising in magazines, TV and who knows where else, 

2.  Yet, at the same time, they offer ways for patients to get the drugs free or at greatly reduced cost.

Property/auto/casualty insurance companies also are spending huge amounts on media advertising.  I get very annoyed at how ads from USAA Insurance have proliferated in recent years.  Premiums paid by their insured customers can't help but go up to pay for that marketing.

Are we getting tired yet of the TV ads for Allstate,  Liberty Mutual and Progressive Insurance companies?

I do believe, though, that some drugs cost a huge amount to develop, and we as the ignorant public don't know enough to recognize what is a fair price.

Certainly there are and have been some rogue/crooked drug peddlers.

As long as rogue companies exist, we have no resource other than the applicable government enforcement agencies to go after them.........FDA, FTC,  Dept. of Justice, Securities and Exchange Commission, etc.

[reiki604]

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@novamc1 wrote:

As long as rogue companies exist, we have no resource other than the applicable government enforcement agencies to go after them.........FDA, FTC,  Dept. of Justice, Securities and Exchange Commission, etc.

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Unfortunately those agencies of the government are either run by ex Big Pharma execs or are promised jobs by Big Pharma after they leave government. 

[bikerbabe]

1-if you’re on Medicare you don’t qualify for those drug discounts
2-what pharma has done to insulin prices is inexcusable. They aren’t new meds. IMO they see huge bucks to be made because the market is large and growing.
3-when was the last time a big pharma lost money? Huge profits every year. Cry me a river. No sympathy here.

[ZoetheCat]

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@Laura14 wrote:

@ZoetheCat  Don't sell yourself short.  You do and did a lot of unpaid work as a wife to help him sustain what he did and you both should be proud to enjoy what you created together. 

Getting ahead in life is never done alone.    That is so true.  When you are and have to pay all the bills yourself, it's not an easy feat at times and getting harder to accomplish.  

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That is very kind of you @Laura14 .  I like to think that I contributed by keeping the household running smoothly (most of the time) but, truth be told, I sometimes struggled with feeling I wasn’t doing enough. 

I, too, believe that we all need help in this life.  Hard work only goes so far.  I think all of us know many hardworking people who barely make ends meet.  

I hope everyone who’s suffering now or worried about their future know that many of us do care.  

[Laura14]

@ZoetheCat   Don't ever feel that way. If he didn't have you doing laundry and keeping up the place, he would have had to pay someone to do it or he would have done it himself and not been as happy with the demands on his time which definitely affects the type of employee he can be.

It's the little things that make the most difference and household running is a big little thing.  

[Spurt]

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@novamc1 wrote:

Two weird/annoying things that I have observed about drugs and the companies producing them....

1.  All the money they are spending on advertising in magazines, TV and who knows where else, 

2.  Yet, at the same time, they offer ways for patients to get the drugs free or at greatly reduced cost.

Property/auto/casualty insurance companies also are spending huge amounts on media advertising.  I get very annoyed at how ads from USAA Insurance have proliferated in recent years.  Premiums paid by their insured customers can't help but go up to pay for that marketing.

Are we getting tired yet of the TV ads for Allstate,  Liberty Mutual and Progressive Insurance companies?

I do believe, though, that some drugs cost a huge amount to develop, and we as the ignorant public don't know enough to recognize what is a fair price.

Certainly there are and have been some rogue/crooked drug peddlers.

As long as rogue companies exist, we have no resource other than the applicable government enforcement agencies to go after them.........FDA, FTC,  Dept. of Justice, Securities and Exchange Commission, etc.

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@novamc1 

Then there's the Pharm Lobbyists for example, who knew about the Opiod Crisis many many years ago....but the Lobbyist gave funds to lawmakers to make it all go away....but it didnt and now we have an even bigger Opiod Crisis....

[suzyQ3]

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@ZoetheCat wrote:

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@Laura14 wrote:

@dex   Thank you for understanding. 

Like I said, I have a roof over my head because I am extremely lucky to have family in a position to help me with an affordable living situation.  I also have a healthy savings acccount and 401K that is not enough to retire on but I do have my own financial safety net for a time barring any medical or other disaster. 

Sorry to crush the image of those who think I am a debtor without a clue.  I actually have an International Economics degree that I paid every penny of my student loans back for so the next generation could have the money to go.

No one is asking for the Ritz.  My car is 7 years old and paid off.  My phone is 5 years old and cost me $125 bucks outright.   I live as cheaply as I can and it's still not enough to stand on my own two feet for the basics.  It's demoralizing to not live with dignity and its dangerous.  

I'll get off my soap box but I reallly wanted to point out to everyone what your fellow neighbor is living with.  It's not as simple as you think it is.  I was one of those who didn't understand and judged until I got out that calculator and did the math.  Do it for yourself.  There is no shame in educating yourself and having compassion towards those who do work to service you 45 plus hours a week plus a second job and still struggle.      

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Nothing gets me riled up more than the smugness of so many who’ve been fortunate in life and figure those who haven’t been so lucky are just lazy, irresponsible, etc.  I have everything I have because of my husband’s career, not because of anything I did.  Yes, I worked, but he had a career in high tech sales, dwarfing my salary.  He worked incredibly hard, traveled for work every week and finally got burnt out.  He will be the first to say that he also was fortunate.  He had people who helped him along the way.  Often, he was in the right place at the right time.  He was, in many respects, lucky.

I retired from my job several years ago, but decided that, as much as I love my cat, I needed to spend more time around people.  So, I got a part time job in retail.  Many of my coworkers live on the edge, never sure if they can make rent that month.  Since hours are cut after the Christmas season, these issues are compounded.  I witnessed one of my coworkers, a very hard worker who also works another part time job, literally begging the manager for more hours so she could make her car payment.  

I suppose it it makes people feel better to think that they made better choices and that this could never happen to them.  To me, it shows a complete lack of empathy and a lack of respect for people who work hard just to stay afloat.  

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@ZoetheCat, thank you a million times over for reminding me that there are still some decent people like you out there. It's so easy to forget that these days.

[deepwaterdotter]

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@songbird wrote:

Actually seniors are in better shape that children that live in the poverty level.  At least many senors have paid off their homes.  Seniors have many resources. AARP is a very powerful lobby.  Also most seniors know that SS is not their only income.  They planned ahead when working.  I think the majority are pretty comfortable in the their living.  The only thing bad and the most important.....is medical insurance.  But that effects everyone, because the U.S. is the only first world country without universal health care. 

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Even if one has paid off their mortgage, there is still maintenance.  The cost of upkeep and replacement of necessities (i.e. heating/cooling, roofing, plumbing) can be expensive if one doesn't have a large retirement reserve.  And as we age, it may become necessary to hire service people to mow or shovel.  This is something my husband and I have been thinking about when considering whether to stay in our home or rent in a retirement community. 

[Spurt]

@novamc1 

Taxpayers — not Big Pharma — have funded the research behind every new drug since 2010

by Alexander Zaitchik

One of the biggest lies told by Big Pharma: that the current system of patents and price-gouging is just an unfortunate necessity to cover the cost of all their brave and noble R&D work.

publicly funded labs conduct years of basic research to get to a breakthrough, which is then snatched up, tweaked, and patented (privatized) by companies who turn around and reap billions with 1,000-times-cost mark-ups on drugs developed with taxpayer money.  Those companies then spend the profits on executive bonuses and share buybacks, and lavish mass marketing campaigns to increase sales of amphetamines, benzos, opioids, and other pills.  And with what’s left over, they lobby to keep threats to this massive scam at bay, all while scooping up more NIH-funded breakthroughs and starting the process anew.  Why are we allowing drug companies to gain proprietary control over taxpayer-funded research, then turn around and price-gouge those same taxpayers to literal death?  “The CISI study is further evidence of a broken system where taxpayers fund the riskier part of drug development, then once the medicines show promise, they are often privatized under patent monopolies that lock in exorbitant prices for 20 years or longer,” says Bryn Gay, Hepatitis C Project Co-Director at the Treatment Action Group.'  

As an example, Gay points to new hepatitis C drugs that have become a global rallying cry for an end to drug patent monopolies. After the NIH funded $62.4 million for the basic science behind the breakthrough drug sofosbuvir, it was purchased by the firm Gilead for $11 billion. Gilead then turned around and priced at up to six-figures, even though a 12-week treatment course of costs less than $100 to produce.

“Companies have raked in profits of over $70 billion from hep C medicines, yet companies like Gilead and Janssen have walked away from additional hep C research, such as for a preventative vaccine,” says Gay. “The impact of NIH-funded research again demonstrates that we need to increase government funding for infectious and neglected diseases. We can’t rely on Pharma to set R&D agendas shaped by how much profit can be generated.”

[proudlyfromNJ]

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@deepwaterdotter wrote:

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@songbird wrote:

Actually seniors are in better shape that children that live in the poverty level.  At least many senors have paid off their homes.  Seniors have many resources. AARP is a very powerful lobby.  Also most seniors know that SS is not their only income.  They planned ahead when working.  I think the majority are pretty comfortable in the their living.  The only thing bad and the most important.....is medical insurance.  But that effects everyone, because the U.S. is the only first world country without universal health care. 

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Even if one has paid off their mortgage, there is still maintenance.  The cost of upkeep and replacement of necessities (i.e. heating/cooling, roofing, plumbing) can be expensive if one doesn't have a large retirement reserve.  And as we age, it may become necessary to hire service people to mow or shovel.  This is something my husband and I have been thinking about when considering whether to stay in our home or rent in a retirement community. 

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@deepwaterdotter @songbird  Don’t forget taxes! Some areas have very high taxes.