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-Caveat Lector- Greetings and Salutations,The sort of information provided with this brief has had to be revealed eventually. These types of scandals have been kept under wraps for at least 80 years, but with the explosion of alternative means to access news on the internet, the lid has blown off the can and the worms are being exposed. The Pharmaceutical Industries total control of the news media up to the last few years has enabled them to block such information from ever reaching the public and protected them from scrutiny and claims for liability. This is further proof of a morally bankrupt pseudo science.The question must be asked, are conditions any different in your part of the world.? By all appearances our governments by their actions are also over zealous in protecting these rogues and in promoting their interests."Arthritis drug fears escalate"shouts the headlines in the NZ Sunday Star Times of 24th Oct. as a sequel to the recent first historic recall and admission by makers of Vioxx that the drug is too dangerous to be used and was responsible for a huge number of heart attacks and strokes. Rest assured that such an admission did not come voluntarily. It was only given grudgingly and at the last possible moment. We warned our subscribers about these drugs some four years ago. The present substitute Celebrex to which everyone has been rushing to use is practically no different and will cause the same problems. That is all still being denied by the manufacturers while they can make a few more bucks, irrespective of the harm they are doing or the deaths that are being caused.RegardsKiwi Joe
"Maturity begins to grow when you can sense your concern for others outweighing your concern for yourself."- John Macnaughton
New Figures Prove Pharmaceutical Industry Continues To Fleece Americans
Numbers debunk industry's claims that prescription drug legislation will hurt R&D and threaten business
WASHINGTON, DC - Congressman Bernard Sanders (I-VT) said a new analysis of pharmaceutical industry profit numbers was proof that the industry is continuing to fleece Americans while working to kill major prescription drug legislation in Congress.
Using the newly released Fortune 500 numbers as raw data, Sanders' comparison shows the top seven pharmaceutical companies took in more in pure profit than the top seven auto companies, the top seven oil companies, the top seven airline companies, and the top seven media companies.
One drug company, Merck, pocketed more in pure profit than all of the airline companies on the Fortune 500 list, and bested the entertainment and construction industries as well. Most significantly, the pharmaceutical's 18.9% profit-to-revenue ratio was, by far, the highest margin of any industry in the nation.
Sanders said, "For the last year, the pharmaceutical industry has used scare tactics to try and stop real prescription drug legislation from passing in Congress. One of its most deceitful and shameless claims is that real reform will somehow stifle research and development and make their business unprofitable. However, as these figures show, the industry is pocketing the largest profit margin of any industry in the nation, with these profits far outweighing their spending on research and development. Make no mistake about it, there is a direct connection between the drug companies massive profits and Americans being charged the highest prices for prescription drugs in the world. It is my belief that Congress needs to stop working to protect the billions in drug company profits and start working to protect Americans from being ripped off on the price of their medications."
DRUG
DOSE, COUNTIN
USIN
CANDIFF
in $DIFF
in %C Lonazepin
.05 mg., 60 cnt.$83
$10
$73
- 87%
Tamoxifen
10 mg., 180 cnt.$241
$34
$207
- 86%
Glucophage
500 mg., 90 cnt.$64
$14
$50
- 78%
Amitriptyline
25 mg., 90 cnt.$20
$5
$15
- 74%
Imdur
30 mg., 90 cnt.$109
$30
$79
- 73%
As the new numbers show, the 12 pharmaceutical companies in the Fortune 500 made $10 billion more than the top 24 motor vehicle industry companies, which includes Ford and GM. At the same time, the pharmaceutical industry has spent millions on television advertisements and lobbying against serious prescription drug legislation.
Fortune 500 Numbers:
Return on Revenues | Return on Assets
Industry Snapshot: Pharmaceuticals
2002 Drug Industry Profits:
Hefty Pharmaceutical Company Margins Dwarf Other Industries
June 23, 2003
Drug Industry Employs 675 Washington Lobbyists, Many with Revolving-Door Connections, New Report Finds
Companion Study Shows That Top 10 Drug Companies Made $36 Billion Last Year – More Than Half of All Profits Netted by Fortune 500 Companies
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The drug industry spares no effort to ensure that Congress does not encroach on its hefty profits and the high prescription prices that support them, according to a pair of Public Citizen reports released today.
Public Citizen found that the drug industry hired 675 different lobbyists from 138 firms in 2002 – nearly seven lobbyists for each U.S. senator, according to federal lobbying disclosure records. The industry spent a record $91.4 million on lobbying activities in 2002, an 11.6 percent increase from 2001.
The pharmaceutical industry’s most significant victory came in derailing efforts to include a prescription drug benefit in the traditional Medicare program. Instead, the industry pushed to have Medicare drug coverage provided by private insurers and HMOs – fracturing the bargaining power of the 41 million Medicare beneficiaries in negotiating for lower prices.
"The drug industry is winning the war on Capitol Hill right now," said Frank Clemente, director of Public Citizen’s Congress Watch. "The Medicare bills before Congress provide drug coverage only through private insurers – not Medicare. This will safeguard their astronomical profits for as far as the eye can see and keep seniors and people with disabilities scrambling to cover their prescription costs."
Public Citizen’s new report, The Other Drug War 2003, exposes the drug industry’s lobbying barrage. Among its findings:
- Drug industry lobbying ranks include 26 former members of Congress. All told, 342 lobbyists (51 percent of those employed by the industry) have "revolving door" connections between K Street and the federal government.
- The Pharmaceutical Research & Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), which represents more than 100 brand-name prescription drug companies, shelled out $14.3 million last year, a 26 percent increase from 2001 and nearly double what the group spent in 2000. PhRMA hired 112 lobbyists in 2002, 30 more than the year before.
- Brand-name drug manufacturers spent more than 20 times as much on lobbying as generic drug-makers – $76 million versus $3.4 million. And they employed seven lobbyists for every one hired by their generic counterparts. Biotechnology companies spent $12 million on lobbying.
- Since Public Citizen began tracking the drug industry’s lobbying activities in 1997, the industry has spent nearly $478 million lobbying the federal government. In that same period, the top 25 pharmaceutical companies and trade groups gave $48.6 million to federal campaigns. Well over $100 million more went to paying for issue ads, hiring academics, funding nonprofits and other activities to promote the industry’s agenda in Washington. All told, the drug industry has spent nearly $650 million on political influence since 1997.
The success drug companies have enjoyed in protecting high prescription prices is reflected in annual profitability rankings recently published by Fortune magazine. In a year when the stock market remained listless and company after company was wounded by accounting scandals, the 10 drug companies in the Fortune 500 maintained nearly the same level of total profits in 2002 as in 2001.
According to Public Citizen’s report, 2002 Drug Industry Profits:
- As a group, the 10 drug companies in the Fortune 500 saw $35.9 billion in profits in 2002, a drop of 3.5 percent from 2001.
- By comparison, all companies in the Fortune 500 suffered a combined loss of 66.3 percent in profits from 2001 to 2002. The pharmaceutical industry soared past other business sectors – raking in profits five-and-a-half times greater than the median for all industries represented in the Fortune 500.
- Profits registered by the 10 drug companies on the list were equal to more than half the $69.6 billion in profits netted by the entire roster of Fortune 500 companies – when all losses are subtracted from all gains.
"The drug industry contends that it needs high prices to finance the discovery of new, innovative drugs," Clemente said. "But a closer look shows that drug-makers make far more money in profits than they spend on research and development."
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OM
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