Posted by
Frigglesnitz on Friday, April 25, 2008 9:49:16 PM
Andrews: I know quite well I'm out of your league in the IQ range -- you're probably off the chart. However, I really don't know anything about pharmaceutical regulations. It's other aspects of the industry where my opinion differs from others'.
My quarrel has to do with the countless pharmaceutical lobbyists and the lawyers who hire them and the pharmaceutical companies that hire the lawyers.
In many ways I believe the drug industry to be somewhat unethical. If you see a doctor, watch for the individual who comes into the waiting room, is fairly well-dressed, is pulling a large cart stacked with a couple of very large briefcases, goes up to the sign-in window, and does not have to cool his heels long before being shown into the inner sanctum -- while patients may have been cooling their heels for as long as an hour or more.
Look around the waiting room. It will be stocked well with facial tissues, informational brochures, sometimes entire magazines and other materials, each advertising some drug.
You may go into the examining room and find that the paper covering the examining table has the name of a new drug plastered all over it. There was one such I remember, and as of the present time the drug has been yanked. You know, probably some death or some other minor thing.
I had done quite a bit of research on the industry before the Medicare Prescription Drug Plans came to be, but after that my interest in them largely dwindled. I was against the PDPs.
Now my interest has been rekindled because of the part China plays in drug manufacturing. According to the GAO, there are more manufacturing plants in China than any other foreign country. The FDA can't keep up.
I'm now reading a transcript of the GAO's Testimony Before the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, Commitee on Energy and Commerce, House of Representatives, subject: "DRUG SAFETY -- Preliminary Findings Suggest Recent FDA Initiatives Have Potential, but Do Not Fully Address Weaknesses in Its Foreign Drug Inspection Program." It's GAO-08-701T. It's easily accessible through the Government Accountability Office Web site. It's not happy reading.
I've asked myself why it is the FDA's (in other words, taxpayers') responsibility to check the safety of foreign drug manufacturers. There is only one conclusion as far as I am concerned.
Fifty percent of the drugs Americans take are imported from other countries.
Now I'll ask you: why is it the taxpayers' responsibility to check the safety of foreign drug manufacturers? Why should it not be the responsibility of the drug maker having it manufactured? Any way you slice it, it means that Americans will be paying more.
And as I said to Beltway Girl, I surely do not have a beef against American companies making a profit. I do, however, shrink from the idea of profiteering.