Posted on 06/01/2009 9:04:14 AM PDT by Jbny
Americans have, at best, a love-hate relationship with the life-sciences industry—the term for the sector of the economy that produces pharmaceuticals, biologics (like vaccines), and medical devices. These days, the mere mention of a pharmaceutical manufacturer seems to elicit gut-level hostility. Journalists, operating from a bias against industry that goes as far back as the work of Upton Sinclair in the early years of the 20th century, treat companies from AstraZeneca to Wyeth as rapacious factories billowing forth nothing but profit. At the same time, Americans are adamant about the need for access to the newest cures and therapies and expect new cures and therapies to emerge for their every ailment—all of which result from work done primarily by these very same companies whose profits make possible the research that allows for such breakthroughs.
(Excerpt) Read more at commentarymagazine.com ...
As long as someone wants to make a buck... miracles are not over.
it will become illegal to make a very good buck under Obamacare, hence new breakthroughs will stop or slow to a crawl. Till now the rest of the world has been able to have it’s cake and eat it too (provide socialized care on the cheap to their citizens while letting the US do the heavy lifing of funding new discoveries). Soon they will learn we all pay the price.
People are going to have to learn the hard way. It’s unfortunate that the undeserving will suffer the most for the stupidity of others.
Exactly. Government-run health care will have bureaucrats making decisions on rationing and buying expensive new medical technology. The bureaucrats will tend to reduce investments in medical technology to save money, especially if such technology is focussed on limited applications in terms of number of patients.
Why must those 2 motives be mutually exclusive? One can an should be able to make a profit at the same time they are working toward the benefit of their fellow man.
Government run health care will cause americans to realize they don’t need to live this way, the key to good health and cures do not rest in the medical community, this is why disease rates are skyrocketing, true healing can be had however.
Big pharmacy is not that positive.. except in the bottom line sense..
Many drones in the pharmacy collective..
Stand down and be assimilated.. is the rule..
Americans are living longer than they ever have. The medical community has played the major role in making that happen, e.g., polio and smallpox are two examples of diseases that have effectively been wiped out.
The longer lifespan issue is a myth ... and even now, it is declining .... Visit and old graveyard someday, people lived to 80 and 90 quite regulary ....
But not much longer compared to the rise in % of the GDP going toward medical care.
I thank God for the discoveries, innovations and inventions of modern medicine. However, I do not want to be enslaved by medicine or anything else for that matter. I would rather die. I feel trapped into buying insurance by my family (who wouldn't understand if I didn't), my employer (who won't allow me to collect what they claim to pay toward my premium), the industry (who like insurance because they don't have to negotiate with patients or treat them like customers), the government (who force me to compete with people on welfare), and monstrosities like Romney and Obama (who want to close the trap forever and put me under government compulsion to buy).
No matter how much we spend, we are all going to die sooner rather than later anyway. I think medical science is blazing a path into the law of diminishing returns much faster than it's extending longevity.
LOL. Myth my ass. More Americans are living longer than ever before. The lifespan of human beings is not the issue.
Sooner rather than later? Facts are facts. More Americans are living better and longer than ever before. There are many reasons for this including medical advances.
Very good point and I believe that it is also true the hospital obstetrical services are a big revenue source (hence the marketing toward women). Up until now, childbirth has required no medical services. But the rise in costs has contributed to the reduction in the birth rate and a vicious demographic/economic cycle. As the population ages (median not length) we have more medical needs, fewer premium payers, fewer potential providers and skyrocketing costs.
Sooner rather than later.
Unless you are a child, it is extremely unlikely that either of us will be conversing on FR or anything like it 50 years from now. Care to place a wager?
How do you define sooner and later? Where is the line that divides the two?
That is correct, and as it stands our infant mortality rate is going up, and our diseases such as Lupis, Chrones, ALS, MS, Fibromyalgia, Diabetes, Heart Disease (which isn’t a disease) and on and on are absolutely skyrocketing. Why is that? Because, these things are caused by our food supply, ie, it’s the terrain in the body that is messed up, no drugs are going to cure that but I know what can ...
Both explanations are true.
The biggest change in the last twenty years has been improvement is cardiovascular treatment. Not only are you much more likely to survice a myocardial infarction, you are much more likely to make a full recovery.
60 is the new 40. Stay active, eat right, control your blood pressure, don’t smoke and you can reasonably expect to be healthy until 80.
That’s the way capitalism works -
everyone working in his own best interest,
and unintentionally making life better for all.
These days, the mere mention of a pharmaceutical manufacturer seems to elicit gut-level hostility. Journalists, operating from a bias against industry that goes as far back as the work of Upton Sinclair in the early years of the 20th century, treat companies from AstraZeneca to Wyeth as rapacious factories billowing forth nothing but profit.
Bump & a Ping
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.