Wanna know WHY some members of the Senate will pay MILLIONS of dollars to get a job that pays less than $200,000 per year?
Here's a clue.
On
May 3rd, 2007, U.S. Senators voted on an amendment to the 2007
Prescription Drug User Fee bill that aims to reform the FDA and enhance
drug safety. This amendment, known as the "Dorgan Amendment No. 990,"
threatened to break Big Pharma's monopoly over pharmaceutical sales and
allow U.S. consumers, cities, states and businesses to purchase their
pharmaceuticals from safety-certified pharmacies located in Canada,
Japan, the U.K. and other nations.
Americans currently pay the
highest prices in the world for prescription drugs. Canadians,
Europeans, and even citizens of Mexico pay only about one-half to as
little as one-tenth the price paid by Americans for the very same
chemicals. Drug companies actually import many of the raw materials
used in pharmaceuticals from other countries, meaning that some U.S.
medicines are already sourced from countries like the U.K. and Germany.
Drug
companies mark up their prescription drugs as much as 569,000% over the
price of the raw materials. (A typical markup is more in the 30,000% -
50,000% range.) Retailing pharmaceuticals is hugely profitable. There
is no business in the world with more profit built in to the retail
price of the product. The purpose of restricting Americans from buying
drugs from other countries is to enforce a medical monopoly in the
United States, forcing consumers to purchase drugs at the highest
prices in the world, further padding the profits of powerful and
influential pharmaceutical corporations who exert strong influence over
the Bush Administration and Republican lawmakers.
The FDA has,
over the past several years, colluded with drug companies to maintain a
monopoly market in the United States in order to protect those profits.
It has taken actions such as raiding a bus load of senior citizens
returning to the U.S. from Canada, searching the elderly for legal
drugs. The FDA has gone to great lengths to pressure U.S. customs to
seize pharmaceutical shipments being imported for sale to individual
consumers in the United States, and it has even invoked the
fantasy-based fear tactic of suggesting that terrorists might
adulterate pharmaceuticals coming to the U.S. from Canada (and
therefore we should all buy our drugs only from U.S.
monopoly-controlled pharmacies because of "terrorists" ).
Dorgan amendment proposes
Dorgan amendment, entitled, "Pharmaceutical Market Access and Drug
Safety Act of 2007," proposes what is essentially a free trade policy
on prescription medications. It would allow Americans to buy their
drugs from certain certified organizations registered as valid
importers or exporters. The bill states, "...a prescription drug is
neither safe nor effective to an individual who cannot afford it," and
goes on to describe rigorous safety requirements that would be required
by the amendment, including safety inspections and registrations as
well as funding efforts to locate and shut down fraudulent internet
sales of counterfeit prescription drugs.
If
passed into the law, this amendment would save U.S. citizens,
businesses, and government entities (local, state and federal) billions
of dollars each year by allowing them to source medications in a price
competitive environment. Many cities and states are right now facing
the very real possibility of bankruptcy due to health care costs
(providing benefits to current and former government employees). A
large percentage of those costs are spent on monopoly-priced
pharmaceuticals. This Dorgan amendment would set city and state
governments free to finally engage in fundamental free market price
comparisons and save substantial sums of money in sourcing the very
same chemical medications for their employees and retirees.
28
Republicans voted against the Dorgan amendment, voting to enforce the
pharmaceutical monopoly and keep Big Pharma in control of virtually the
entire U.S. medication market. There were no Democrats that voted
against the amendment. But why would 28 Republican Senators vote
against breaking a marketplace monopoly and encouraging the use of free
market economics to save American consumers billions of dollars? The
answer isn't complicated: Because nearly all of them have taken money
from pharmaceutical companies!
For a list of the Big Pharma 28 plus a full copy of the Bill itself, go to Newstarget.
Here's a clue.
Originally published May 7 2007
28 Senators vote to maintain Big Pharma monopoly over U.S. consumers; Republicans oppose free trade for medicine
by Mike AdamsOn
May 3rd, 2007, U.S. Senators voted on an amendment to the 2007
Prescription Drug User Fee bill that aims to reform the FDA and enhance
drug safety. This amendment, known as the "Dorgan Amendment No. 990,"
threatened to break Big Pharma's monopoly over pharmaceutical sales and
allow U.S. consumers, cities, states and businesses to purchase their
pharmaceuticals from safety-certified pharmacies located in Canada,
Japan, the U.K. and other nations.
Americans currently pay the
highest prices in the world for prescription drugs. Canadians,
Europeans, and even citizens of Mexico pay only about one-half to as
little as one-tenth the price paid by Americans for the very same
chemicals. Drug companies actually import many of the raw materials
used in pharmaceuticals from other countries, meaning that some U.S.
medicines are already sourced from countries like the U.K. and Germany.
Drug
companies mark up their prescription drugs as much as 569,000% over the
price of the raw materials. (A typical markup is more in the 30,000% -
50,000% range.) Retailing pharmaceuticals is hugely profitable. There
is no business in the world with more profit built in to the retail
price of the product. The purpose of restricting Americans from buying
drugs from other countries is to enforce a medical monopoly in the
United States, forcing consumers to purchase drugs at the highest
prices in the world, further padding the profits of powerful and
influential pharmaceutical corporations who exert strong influence over
the Bush Administration and Republican lawmakers.
The FDA has,
over the past several years, colluded with drug companies to maintain a
monopoly market in the United States in order to protect those profits.
It has taken actions such as raiding a bus load of senior citizens
returning to the U.S. from Canada, searching the elderly for legal
drugs. The FDA has gone to great lengths to pressure U.S. customs to
seize pharmaceutical shipments being imported for sale to individual
consumers in the United States, and it has even invoked the
fantasy-based fear tactic of suggesting that terrorists might
adulterate pharmaceuticals coming to the U.S. from Canada (and
therefore we should all buy our drugs only from U.S.
monopoly-controlled pharmacies because of "terrorists" ).
Dorgan amendment proposes
trade for medicine
TheDorgan amendment, entitled, "Pharmaceutical Market Access and Drug
Safety Act of 2007," proposes what is essentially a free trade policy
on prescription medications. It would allow Americans to buy their
drugs from certain certified organizations registered as valid
importers or exporters. The bill states, "...a prescription drug is
neither safe nor effective to an individual who cannot afford it," and
goes on to describe rigorous safety requirements that would be required
by the amendment, including safety inspections and registrations as
well as funding efforts to locate and shut down fraudulent internet
sales of counterfeit prescription drugs.
If
passed into the law, this amendment would save U.S. citizens,
businesses, and government entities (local, state and federal) billions
of dollars each year by allowing them to source medications in a price
competitive environment. Many cities and states are right now facing
the very real possibility of bankruptcy due to health care costs
(providing benefits to current and former government employees). A
large percentage of those costs are spent on monopoly-priced
pharmaceuticals. This Dorgan amendment would set city and state
governments free to finally engage in fundamental free market price
comparisons and save substantial sums of money in sourcing the very
same chemical medications for their employees and retirees.
28
Republicans voted against the Dorgan amendment, voting to enforce the
pharmaceutical monopoly and keep Big Pharma in control of virtually the
entire U.S. medication market. There were no Democrats that voted
against the amendment. But why would 28 Republican Senators vote
against breaking a marketplace monopoly and encouraging the use of free
market economics to save American consumers billions of dollars? The
answer isn't complicated: Because nearly all of them have taken money
from pharmaceutical companies!
For a list of the Big Pharma 28 plus a full copy of the Bill itself, go to Newstarget.
Powered by ScribeFire.
No comments:
Post a Comment