Make Room at the Pharmaceutical Table
As this series on big pharma continues, let me reiterate that I am not opposed to the pharmaceutical industry. Would any of us like to see the huge pharmaceutical corporations fade away? I think not. The massive amount of capital in the industry ensures that we benefit from the most progressive research and development in the world. Our society can afford the finest health facilities and the most professional brain trust of medical experts available on the planet. Each of us benefits, probably daily, from the utmost in drugs, materials, and equipment. These “necessities” would not be there for us without the development, production, and distribution advantages of the monolith pharmaceutical industry. We have paid dearly for such advantages. America’s health culture relies on continuous and aggressive pursuit of new and better products and services for our infirmities. Although we complain about the prices, we are apparently willing to pay them. Big pharma depends on our demand, and we depend on big pharma’s supply.
The problem is that this power and energy needs to be channeled in a somewhat different direction. Relatively little effort is being made toward potential medical breakthroughs outside the realm of traditional, conventional medicine. Exploration of natural, non-chemical, non-toxic, non-intrusive approaches to healing is suppressed by political maneuvering from the industry and the government. The existence of big pharma is not the issue. The issue is that very promising alternatives, or complements, to conventional medicine are not allowed a place at the health care table. There is room for evidenced-based, clinically tested complementary medicines and therapies to co-exist with conventional medicines and therapies. That would be the best of all worlds. But, generally, they are not invited to the party. Why not let both develop, collaborate, and compete in the free market. What a novel idea! It almost seems like the principle the American economy was founded on.
Such a free market concept within the pharmaceutical industry is a major piece of the new strategy for the war on cancer. There must be freedom of access, freedom to practice, and freedom to choose in the doctor-patient interface. I invite your comments.