In the past the US has destroyed what good the UN and its agencies have tried to do...I am not optomistic.

If we people of the world had good sense, we would be funding development of new drugs by grants to universities for the R&D, with patents on the resultant drugs illegal and nonexistent in every country. This notion that drugs are impossible to have without corporate cartels is absurd to the extreme.

As it stands, we have drugs controlled by corporations, and Americans lulled to sleep by Montel Williams speaking to us LITERALLY EVERY DAY in a paid ad on TV about the big PPA (Partnership for Prescription Assistance) bus rolling to "cities and towns in all 50 states". Good grief, we're dumb. (And I bet if we knew the truth about the size of the tax deductions taken by Pharma companies for their "charitable contributions" to PPA, we'd be astonished. Whaddaya bet that the U.S. Treasury is paying from lost revenue for every one of Montel's ads?)

i think we need to start talking about class actions suits against a lot of these corporations, for reckless endangerment of the public. certainly the p'ceutical industry would be a candidate for such suits. and _definitely_ the war industry would be.

One member of the governing advisory board, for example, is Durhane Wong-Rieger. Wong-Rieger is chair of the Consumer Advocare Network, which is funded by Canada's pharmaceutical industry trade association Rx&D.
Hey! That's great! I'm sure their contribution will be as "helpful" to the WHO as it was to Canada's pharmaceutical industry. The following is taken from the conclusions of an article entitled The Real Story Behind Big Pharma's R&D Spending in Canada published by Canada's Generic Pharmaceutical Association:

From a public policy perspective, the most important and relevant question regarding the pharmaceutical patent regime is whether or not it is serving the interests of Canadians.

Nearly 20 years after the introduction of Bill C-22, which gave brand-name drug companies longer periods of market monopoly, and more than 10 years after the introduction of the Patented Medicines (Notice of Compliance) Regulations of Canada's Patent Act, it is evident that the shift in Canada's pharmaceutical policy in favour of brand-name drug companies has been a failure in virtually every measurable outcome.

It is clear that nearly 20-years of concessions to the multi-national brand-name pharmaceutical industry by the Government of Canada has not served the interests of Canadians:

- Relative to other countries, increased pharmaceutical patent protection has not resulted in more research and development in Canada nor has it had any relation to the number of pharmaceutical products introduced in this country

- Historical data from the Patented Medicine Prices Review Board (PMPRB) shows the vast majority of brand-name drug company R&D spending in Canada is to obtain regulatory approval so that their products can be marketed in Canada. It is clear that increasing pharmaceutical patent protection in Canada has had limited impact on levels of research and development spending

- Pharmaceutical patentees are now failing to meet the minimum commitments for R&D spending in Canada that they made to the Canadian government when their state-sanctioned and enforced market monopolies were increased in 1987

- Given its enormous annual sales in Canada, brand industry job creation is quite low (22,000 jobs on $14-billion in sales)

- Canada's trade deficit in pharmaceutical and medicine manufacturing has increased from $1.6-billion in 1995 to $5.7-billion in 2005, which highlights the fact that the vast majority of brand-name drugs are not produced in Canada but shipped in from foreign countries

- Drug costs are the fastest rising cost in Canadian health care. Provincial governments are demanding changes as their drug benefit plan costs increase at annual rates of 10-15%.

- Drug benefits are increasingly becoming a major point of contention in labour negotiations as employers attempt to shift costs to employees.

The point of articles like this are presumably to enlighten those who still find themselves prey to predatory production. The need for this is clear, but do these authors have to continue to pay so much respect to the predators? Presumably such etiquette upholds a philosophical requirement to respect all of our fellow human beings. But such a philosophical requirement is flawed in the context of a predator/prey relationship. Should the prey respect the "right" of its predator to chew into its flesh? Or should the prey do everything in its power to throw off the predator? Which law of nature requires the food hierarchy expand upward? Which law of nature requires that the prey submit to the predator, that the host submit to the parasite, that the slave submit to the master? Put zero tolerance for predatory production into the public debate and stop implying that we should tolerate it.

People don't need capital. Keep your health issues between you and your maker, your god, nature, the universe. If someone offers you a helping hand, accept it. But NEVER let a capitalist exploit your misfortune for profit.

I am sure that most know that drugs are developed with huge injections of cash from the public trough. Then the pharmaceutical companies go on to reap enormous profits from this taxpayer funded research. This is known as capitalism.

Until and unless we alter our tax structures to reflect both actual monies expended and donations made to the poor both within and without the nation we will continue to see a system that puts profits foremost. Big pharmaceutical companies are little different from big oil, or big anything for that matter. Out of control profiteering is a result of taking government out of the oversight business. \

We currently see a government that has abdicated its responsibilities to we the people. It will not change its focus on we the corporate entities until we insist upon it. Those who believe that the solutions to our problems begin with the three current candidates for the White House just havent really been paying attention.

Here's some nice Pharmaceutical information to try an get your head around:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-8674401787208020885

You don't suppose they would poison us so they could sell us a cure do you?

The chemical industry, like the medical industry, should be nationalized. Profit should not be the bottom line when it comes to people's health whether in America or anywhere else in the world.

The capitalist system is immoral. It needs to be brought into line. It needs to serve the people not the people serve it!

P.S. Elect Hugo as your President. Details at www.dangerouscreation.com

Ths greed machine is slipping it in gear and getting ready to roll!

"Freedom is like walking down a narrow path while swinging a stick. As long as no one is near you, you can swing it any way that you wish.'

In our country, too often, the greedy predators are swinging their sticks wildly, and, at will -- not caring who they hit, who they hurt.

I grew up during the 40's & 50's hearing that the only 'sins' that counted were sexual. I also heard over and over: "anything for a buck" -- 'everyone has his price' -- " it's a rat-race" -- "nice guys finish last" -- "get him by the balls" -- "It's the 'real world'."

"Do-gooders" and "bleeding-hearts" were to be mocked and ignored.

And these 'moral/religious' leaders who never taught about greed, etc. dared/dare to call us a "Christian country".

It is absolutely outrageous to see: the human vultures and hyenas circling those who have fallen upon hard times -- the 'educated' corporate types pushing death through, among other things, their tobacco products and third-world infant formulas -- our so-called 'public servants' selling our real interests to the highest over-stuffed bidder.

Here's another saying from India that could well be discussed in classrooms across America:

"Politics without principles;
commerce without morality;
wealth without charity;
science without humanity;
education without character;
are not only useless -- they are
positively dangerous."

Bless

A doctor told me a few years ago that they spend half their time writing prescriptions for ailments, the other half writing prescriptions for the ills caused by the prescriptions for the ailments.

workreno asked the question, "You don't suppose they would poison us so they could sell us a cure do you?"

Would they? Nah, they'd never do that.

Arvy:
Some good points but you failed to mention Canada can and does negotiate the price of these drugs. Case in point bus loads of Americans going to Canada to fill perscriptions for at times 50% less than in the US for the same product.

Reading between the lines, WHO wants to do good. Big Pharma is the devil. Nations are too corrupt to take on Big Pharma. Solution, One World Government, as only they can control Big Pharma. Right.

The UN and national government (US & UK) play good cop bad cop. Both are controlled by neo-malthusian elite. Big Pharma does not produce drugs that cure diseases and allow people to live longer, because the NWO elite want to depopulate the world. They may even have cures for some diseases that only the elite have access to, who knows.

Big Pharma spends more on advertising than R&D. In fact, much of the research that has led to innovative new drugs in the past had come from government funded research in universities. Big Pharma spends most of the R&D on drugs to treat chronic diseases, not cure disesase, or to create a "new" generation of drugs they can patent and charge high, when the old generation works fine, but is now generic and priced lower.

I thought you'd like to check out the political allegory of mine that I just found a literary agent for. It's a story set in the context of a teacher discussing with his class all of the evidence that the Bush administration is as corrupt as it is incompetent….and how to rectify the Constitutional crisis we face. It's couched in a discussion about the urgent need to stop abusing Mother Nature. I wrote in 3 dozen celebrities to play the students, so it's very funny despite how infuriating it is. You can read it at www.stoplittering.com/theswitch.htm and, yes, StopLittering.com is my site.

Free bumper sticker: SCREW BIG PHARMA/LIVE WELL OR DIE.
AARP should do a hostile takeover of one of the Pharmas and turn it into a co-op. Powders for the people!

India looked at AIDS drugs costing $30,000 per year just to keep the person alive a little longer and said screw their patents. They made the drugs themselves and sold them at an affordable price.

It is immoral what drug companies do. They want you to believe that they are saving lives when they are just making themselves much richer. They tell you they need all those profits to develop drug when others do it for much less. It is time to stop the lies and get some justice.

Hollow point -- "Arvy: Some good points but you failed to mention Canada can and does negotiate the price of these drugs."

True. I wasn't trying to suggest that the situation in Canada is worse than in the home of corporate rule. Like many things in this imperfect world, it was a political compromise under threat of worse alternatives and greatly influenced by the fact that Canada, like most of the civilized world, already has "socialized" medical care for its citizens.

This is an informative article on health, diet, and medication. The article listed, The cure for diabetes is also very...they sort of go together. Notice one example they use for a normal diet is Masai tribal people.

http://www.menshealth.com/cda/article.do?site=MensHealth&channel=health&category=heart.disease&conitem=a03ddd2eaab85110VgnVCM10000013281eac____&page=1

Hunuman I her you brother/sister

wilmoor I hate to even ask you to watch the vidio that I linked to above....

MiMiCsS nails it ..

I see all the confusion and wonder how we're ever gonna get out of this alive.

Know how to live a healthy life is the best defense against being exploited by the drug industry.

When it comes to money , no body loves it more than the W.J.C. family . And if some body has to die in their quest for the filthy lucre : Well if they die they die by the millions . In mr Greg Plast's book "The Best Democracy Money Can Buy" on page 62 "Bad TRIPS at the WTO" , Argentina has the ability to make the AIDS drugs dirt cheap . With 25.3 million people going to die in Southern Africa , Argentina proposed to ship the drugs to Southern Africa for $2.00 per day per patient . The gaint pharmaceutical companies howled about the proposed shipments and complained to the U.S. President Mr W.J.C. ( whose wife is presently a presidential candidate ) . Mr W.J.C. then put his V.P. Mr A.G. in charge of the U.S. trade cops . The shipments to the 2.5 million dying people were halted and poor Argentina who was already having economic problems was threatened with sanctions . When Mr Nelson Mandela suggested that South Africa could issue compulsory licences for the local manufacture of AIDS drugs to save some of the 2.5 million dying patients Mr A.G. threatened him with the WTO hammer . Later in 2000 the N.Y. Times reported that Mr W.J.C. had saved Africa . He proposed a billion dollar a year loan to the African nations . The pharmaceutical companies had just agreed to sell the drugs at reduced rates . $2.00 per day per patient . This took Argentina , India , and Brazil who all have the ability to produce and ship the drugs completely out of the picture . Mr W.J.C. ( lobbyist ) had put millions of people's health in jeopardy while he worked a deal . It also meant that the U.S. and or the World Bank coughed up a large sum of money to some nations that may not be able to make payments on the loan . But the big pharmaceutical companies and the dealer ( lobbyist Mr W.J.C. ) are collecting .
While Mrs W.J.C. is campaigning and promising jobs and good wages Mr W.J.C. (lobbyist) is presently working on an addendum to his NAFTA deal to out source more jobs to Columbia . I now know what "smoke and mirrors" really means .

workreno - was it something I said? I would have watched the video if I could. Guess my old computer doesn't have what it takes. Your question about them poisoning us so they could sell us a cure is something I've often thought.

I have many ailments, some that have no known cure, some with medications that "might help." I also have others, including high cholesterol, osteoperosis, arthritis, chronic brochial asthma, all having several medications on the market. I decline prescriptions from my doctor, telling him I'd rather deal with them myself with good nutrition, exercize, and more 'natural' methods. I really don't trust the prescription drug enterprise at all.

What the video is about is the manipulation of disease organisms by the same people that make and sell the cures. It is an examination of the half-truths you have been told about vaccines. It is about why some people have adverse reactions that last a lifetime but are not reported. It is also about emergent diseases that result from incomplete knowledge.

Arvy:
well my over the counter drugs are covered by 80% and my dental is 80% and hospital is 100% that includes all drugs and operations I have needed while there. The cost out of pocket is about a large coffee and muffin a day and that covers the WHOLE family as well. This also gives me a semi private room and TV. The average Canadian lives 3 years longer than Americans. Trouble is the big 3 leaders running for President won't even talk about it and that is the true crime in America.

On the leading edge fringe of the pharma / patient dilemma was my brother, Louis, in 1991. He had stage IV pancreatic cancer. He read and researched anything that had the word, "pancreatic" in it. he distilled all of the existing knowledge of the subject to asking me to find him a bottle of "shark fin capsules" to treat his disease.

I found them in a pharmacy near his hospice.
Shark Fin Capsules - $12.00

Did the pharmacy owner know "shark capsules" were bull shit? Of course he did. Did the pharmacy owner want to make a few bucks form the sale. Of course he did.
Did he care there is no USP grade shark capsules? No. He probably and correctly assumed that the consumer would not be around to enter a suit anout shark capsules.

These years later, I am diagnosed with GIST, gastrointestinal stromal tumor
A sarcoma - cancer. There are two usually effective pharmaceuticals used to treat this. One costs $3,400 / month retail
The patent holder subsidises some of this cost. The health plan charges only $50 co-pay. This is not universal, but changes from plan to plan. I am lucky. I have a good plan.

I know what protesting is. I went to college 1962 - 1966. Am I supposed to refuse any benevolence of Pharma or Health Plan? That gets into commitiing suicide eventually.

The problem here is that Big Pharma can spends millions, even billions, to hire people to corrupt governments, pollute the public airwaves, and do whatever is necessary to set up the game to help only themselves. It has nothing to do about health, it has everything to do about wealth. They try to addict doctors and patients to their drugs to feed their own addiction to profits. Patents are nothing other than monopolies. Research into serious medicines for diseases like cancer and AIDS is largely funded by governments, but it's Big Pharma that gets all the patents and then screws the patients. It's a sick and cynical machine and it goes by the name of Health Care.

Not long ago on these pages there was a discussion of a suggestion to make the oil industry a public utility. Someone pointed out there are more profitable industries than Big Oil. Point taken. Perhaps a better case can be made for adopting a public utility model for Big Pharma.