Big Pharma Political Influence Bears Fruit
My last posts about the recent media frenzy over alternative medicine issues has distracted me from my series of posts on big pharma. So, let’s get back to the series with another post on the subject.
The massive lobbying and contribution effort by the pharmaceutical industry certainly bears fruit for them. The U.S. government contributes more money to the development of new drugs in the form of tax breaks and subsidies than any other national government. The industry’s two trade groups, PhRMA and the Biotechnology Industry Organization disclosed lobbying Congress on more than 1,600 bills over a recent six-year period. By the way, these two lobbyist groups are headed by two influential former members of Congress. Both of the former Congressmen were on committees that regulated drug companies, and they each sponsored several bills related to the industry. The top pharmaceutical corporations maintain a perpetual good ole boy network that makes sure they will thrive in the highly profitable prescription drug market for decades to come. This is critically important to their survival. A market becoming more open to alternative products and less protective of price levels would probably be the beginning of the end of the big pharma era as we know it.
The free market economy in which big pharma thrives should ensure a level playing field for all health care enterprises. However, that free market is skewed if Congress and principal medical agencies establish policies that favor the pharmaceutical industry and restrict market entry by enterprises outside the industry mainstream. The new strategy of integrative oncology depends on access to and support of complementary products and practices not necessarily available through conventional pharmaceutical corporations. Now is the time to begin urging your Congressional delegation to oppose the big pharma resistence to cancer therapy options that don’t fit their mold. Insist that your representatives and senators study the evidence-based complements to conventional therapies and fund more research into integrative cancer treatments.
July 2nd, 2009 at 21:26
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