We all deserve healthcare, but the powers that be seem to actively keep it from us. Nowadays, it’s not entirely uncommon to find this notion. That the largest medication providers in the US, also known as Big Pharma, are nothing more than criminal cartels. This might sound like hyperbole. But think about what organized crime groups do. They abuse the law and use loopholes to their advantage. They silence opposition. They put people’s’ lives at risk. We’re going to look at the real risks of Big Pharma that all citizens should know. When you know where the threat is coming from, you can use your voice to fight it.
Putting the cost on the many to the benefit of the few
The research for drugs is done, mostly, with public funding. Our public universities and government research centers are the testing grounds for many of the products being sold to us. But we’re not the ones benefiting from this process. We’re paying not only to fund it but to access it. We’re also paying a lot more than we should be. Why? Because drug companies can monopolize their products, marking them up by however much they want. All through patenting trickery. World Patent Marketing complaints show in detail just how drug companies hold to patents far longer than they should be allowed. This means more people pay exorbitant amounts for drugs that should be on a much freer market.
Putting lives at risk
Patent laws aren’t taking drug manufacturers to court, but it’s important to recognize just what is. In most cases, it’s the drugs they’re producing themselves. Whether through inadequate testing or hiding of the truth, there are hundreds of people taking drug companies to trial each year. Undocumented side effects and real risks to the continued health of patients is caused by badly marketed drugs time and time again. Each time you’re given a new medicine as part of your health care, it’s important to cross-reference it with drug watch-groups. There is some risk inherent in all medicine. But that doesn’t mean that Big Pharma should be flagrantly pumping the system full of dangerous drugs.
Silencing dissent
We’re not the first people to have a problem with the way Big Pharma works. Far from it. The Food and Drug Administration’s own scientists have reported in surveys how intimidation works to keep them in line. Our broken system has led to the reliance on and the soaring wealth of Big Pharma companies. This intimidation is used to further Big Pharma’s commercial interests. It’s only a few whistleblowers who have been blowing the lid on dangerous practices. Practices like the distribution of Vioxx which put thousands at cardiovascular risk. Yet the unsettling truth is that more of our healthcare providers, even in our government, are willing to stay silent. As long as Big Pharma has the power they do, this won’t stop.
Big Pharma has a stranglehold on healthcare today that is wreaking havoc. It’s making medicine unaffordable. It’s causing physical harm. Perhaps worst of all, it’s hamstringing the scientific power of curing disease that we have. Be aware. Be a voice against the sins of Big Pharma.
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