Bill Moyers Journal interview of Melody Peterson | Arthritis Information

 

Jan

 

More and more is coming out about the unethical practices of the profit driven pharmaceutical industry, how their lobbyists lied and pushed through the Medicare Prescription Drug Act, of which Republican Congressman Bill Tauzin who sponsored the legislation is now the million a year paid CEO of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, the drug industry's top lobbying group; the Vioxx scandal, which was heavily marketed to the tune of millions of $$ then taken off the market 4 years later after over 100,000 heart related incidents (in following lawsuits it was learned that Merck had misrepresented the data from clinical trials); withholding full disclosure of clinical data results in order to promote new, expensive drugs that were no better than cheaper generic drugs; the practice of ghostwriting reports of new drugs -- the list is getting too long, and the American public, the sick, the elderly, are being gouged by high priced prescription drugs in order to fatten the profits of the drug companies.   

 

There is also a DVD available.  She is a VERY convincing reporter.

 

Jan

 

One of the many things she reveals, is the use of public relations firms to market drugs -- these hired staff of drug companies write up reports, get physicians to put their name on them, and then have them published in medical journals used to influence doctors to prescribe these new drugs to you and me.  Really shakes one's confidence and trust in just about everyone.

 

Here's another alarming thing I learned from her interview:

 

"Petersen reports that Americans spend more on medicines than do all the people of Japan, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Great Britain, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Mexico, Brazil and Argentina combined. The relentless marketing has enriched corporate executives and sent stock prices soaring."

 

All those countries COMBINED.  No wonder health care costs are going through the roof!!

 

Makes me feel angry.  And scared for the future.  I've had RA for 30 some years and have been on enbrel now for several years.  Right now I pay a reasonable copay, but I've been reading how with the increasing cost of prescription drugs, employers and insurance companies are shifting the cost of expensive drugs like RA biologic drugs to the individual.  Medicare Part D prescription plans classify many of these "speciality drugs" as Tier 4 drugs. They have a different pricing system.  Instead of a nominal copay, the individual pays 20 to 30 percent of the actual cost of the drug, so in the case of enbrel, which is about ,500 a month, the cost would be 0-0 a month.  Now this is a drug treatment for a chronic condition, so one would be paying this for the rest of your life, in addition to health insurance premiums and other out of pocket expenses.  A few years ago no private insurance plans had this pricing system, now about 10% of plans do.  Will more insurance plans do this, will mine?

 

It can be overwhelming, but people need to start making their dissatifaction and concerns known.  Write you state representatives, write you federal representatives, participate in groups and rallies about fixing our health care system.   Vote for someone who will represent your interests and not the interests of drug and insurance companies.  Support legislation that protects consumers and not corporations.