posted
OBVIOUSLY NOT REPRESENTING CONSTITUENTS. ONLY BIG PHARMA !!
Americans betrayed by Democratic senators with surprise amendment that protects Big Pharma monopoly Tuesday, May 08, 2007
Consumers expecting a miracle in the Senate that would end Big Pharma's monopoly and the FDA-enforced drug racket now operating in the United States will be sorely disappointed by yesterday's events. Fifteen Democratic senators (led by Sen. Edward Kennedy) abandoned consumer interests and joined a Republican-organized amendment that would protect Big Pharma's stranglehold over U.S. consumers by blocking the importation of prescription drugs from other countries.
The amendment in question is Senate Amendment 1010: "To protect the health and safety of the public," sponsored by Sen. Thad Cochran (R-MS) as an amendment to S.1082, the FDA reauthorization bill. The short text of the amendment requires that the Secretary of Health and Human Services block all importations of medications unless HHS can certify to Congress that such imports, "pose no additional risk to the public's health and safety." HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt, of course, has no interest in allowing free market conditions to threaten Big Pharma profits, thus the outcome of this amendment is obvious: It effectively overturns the Dorgan amendment that would have allowed Americans to save billions of dollars on prescription drugs by purchasing them from outside the United States under "free market" conditions.
Fifteen Democratic senators voted in favor of this amendment to defend Big Pharma's monopoly. Those senators are are: Max Baucus, Evan Bayh, Maria Cantwell, Thomas Carper, Edward Kennedy, John Kerry, Mary Landrieu, Frank Lautenberg, Blanche Lincoln, Robert Men�ndez, Barbara Mikulski, Patty Murray, Ben Nelson, Jay Rockefeller, and Kenneth Salazar.
Thirty-three Republicans also supported the bill, which passed 49-40 (11 not voting). The Republican senators who voted for this amendment are: Lamar Alexander, Robert Bennett, Kit Bond, Jim Bunning, Richard Burr, Saxby Chambliss, Tom Coburn, Thad Cochran, Norm Coleman, Bob Corker, John Cornyn, Michael Crapo, Elizabeth Dole, Pete Domenici, Michael Enzi, Lindsey Graham, Judd Gregg, Chuck Hagel, Orrin Hatch, Kay Bailey Hutchison, Johnny Isakson, Jon Kyl, Richard Lugar, Mel Martinez, Mitch McConnell, Lisa Murkowski, Pat Roberts, Arlen Specter, Ted Stevens, John Sununu, Craig Thomas, George Voinovich, and John Warner.
Big Pharma owns the U.S. Senate What's clear from this vote is that the majority of U.S. Senators do not represent the interests of the people. Backed by Big Pharma reelection campaign money, our lawmakers are acting to directly enforce a Big Pharma monopoly at the expense of the public. While the exact same medications are available from Canada, Europe and other countries for nearly half the price paid in the United States, U.S. consumers will continue to be forced to pay monopoly prices on their medications thanks to the great U.S. Senate sellout to Big Pharma.
It's not just consumers who are financially harmed by this drug price fixing scheme, either. Many corporations, city governments and states are headed to near-certain financial bankruptcy in large part due to monopoly pricing on prescription drugs. The near-collapse of the U.S. auto industry, for example, is largely due to health care costs. General Motors spends more on health insurance than it does on steel. The cost of doing business in the United States is now unbearable for many companies, and they're fleeing to other countries where health care costs are a fraction of U.S. costs.
Fifteen Democratic and thirty-three Republican senators believe U.S. citizens and businesses should be forced to pay the highest prices in the world for medications. Monopoly market conditions must be upheld. Keeping Americans diseased, uninformed and financially exploited is simply too profitable to walk away from. And corporate control over the U.S. Congress has never been stronger. It is no exaggeration to say that, with few exceptions, lawmakers no longer vote according to the interests of the citizens they claim to represent. Rather than casting votes that actually protect the public interest, lawmakers now spend their time determining which votes will get them reelected. That, of course, requires money, and corporations have lots of that -- especially when they run FDA-enforced monopoly price fixing schemes that clearly qualify as crimes under existing anti-trust legislation.
Democracy is failing When the government of any nation forgets its people and, instead, focuses on defending and promoting the interests of powerful corporations, you no longer have a Democracy. Instead, you have a Plutocracy (see Wikipedia entry on Plutocracy), where the wealthy elite control the political process and use laws to further enrich themselves at the expense of the public.
It's an accurate description of what's happening in America today: The public is no longer represented by the Senate, the FDA, the USDA or the EPA. Instead, each of these governmental bodies (legislative for the Senate, executive for the other departments) is now operating in the interests of corporations. Campaign finance reform, of course, is impossible under such circumstances, since no corporate-controlled Senate will ever vote to cut itself off from corporate money. Thus, the only outcome of the situation is a further erosion of the integrity of U.S. legislative processes to the point where the public is impoverished, the nation is bankrupt, and the corporations run the government.
We are approaching that scenario now, and this latest vote by Senators to protect and even expand the Big Pharma monopoly over U.S. consumers is a glaring example of what happens when politicians sell out their constituents and kowtow to the influence of powerful corporations. Big Business and Big Government are now merging to become a unified system of financial exploitation of the people. The corporations financially rape the people, and the government keeps it legal.
Please note that senators of both major parties -- Democratic and Republican -- joined in this most recent mass betrayal of U.S. consumers. While Republicans certainly have stronger ties to drug companies, when push comes to shove Democrats will sell out their constituents just the same. The pocketbook of no citizen is safe when Congress is in session, and any voter who thinks one political party or another is going to come to the rescue and actually protect the interests of consumers is hopelessly naive.
Action items: Here's what you can do now The battle over S.1082 is not yet over. All these recent debates are over amendments to the bill. The bill itself has not yet come to a floor vote (but it will soon). You still have a chance to help stop this bill!
If you're a U.S. citizen, call your Senator now (click here for a list of Senators' phone numbers) and tell them you oppose S.1082, the FDA reauthorization bill. If you have a chance, tell them you support the "Grassley amendments" and a free market for medications.
We can still have a huge impact in stopping this bill from becoming law. But it will require more action on your part to help protect American consumers from financial exploitation by the white-collar criminals running medicine today. We must do the job the U.S. Senate refuses to do. We must take action to protect ourselves from the monopolists, pharma con men and corrupt regulators who are trying to keep Americans trapped in a system of medicine that will ultimately destroy our collective health and bankrupt our nation. There is nothing these criminals will not attempt in order to protect their profits and territory, and right now they've pulled out all the stops to buy off senators and keep their medical monopoly intact.
Only a massive grassroots campaign of opposition can save us from a corporate-controlled plutocracy (or kleptocracy, if you will). Please join me in taking action now to stop S.1082 from becoming law. Saving America from itself is now up to the people, and the people alone. Lawmakers have rendered themselves incapable of making decisions that support any real future for our nation. The U.S. economy is now a carcass of cash (debt, actually), and lawmakers are simply divvying up the spoils to their Big Pharma buddies.
###
About the author: Mike Adams is a consumer health advocate with a passion for sharing empowering information to help improve personal and planetary health He has authored more than 1,500 articles and dozens of reports, guides and interviews on natural health topics, reaching millions of readers with information that is saving lives and improving personal health around the world. Adams is a trusted, independent journalist who receives no money or promotional fees whatsoever to write about other companies' products. He's also the founder and CEO of a well known email mail merge software developer whose software, 'Email Marketing Director,' currently runs the NewsTarget email subscriptions. Adams also serves as the executive director of the Consumer Wellness Center, a non-profit consumer protection group, and enjoys outdoor activities, nature photography, Pilates and adult gymnastics. He's also author of numerous health books published by Truth Publishing and is the creator of several consumer-oriented grassroots campaigns, including the Spam. Don't Buy It! campaign, and the free downloadable Honest Food Guide. He also created the free reference sites HerbReference.com and HealingFoodReference.com. Adams believes in free speech, free access to nutritional supplements and the ending of corporate control over medicines, genes and seeds. Known as the 'Health Ranger,' Adams' personal health statistics and mission statements are located at www.HealthRanger.orgPosts: 116 | From Plano, Texas, USA | Registered: May 2004
| IP: Logged |
posted
I will call immediately! Although I'm pretty sure my two senators are not "big pharma" friendly. One has been fighting to import from Canada for years, and even taken Seniors on bus trips over the border!
-------------------- "Few of us can do great things, but all of us can do small things with great love". Mother Theresa
posted
Concerning this issue the AARP is NOT happy. Lets hope 38 million knowledgable voters can help!
AARP notified the 110th Congress that it was tracking roll call votes on key legislation important to its 38 million members, and reporting the outcomes of these votes back to its members. "We believe people make the right choices when they understand the issues and position taken by their elected officials. AARP intends to ensure that its members get that information," Griffin said.
posted
Big Pharma owns the U.S. Senate "What's clear from this vote is that the majority of U.S. Senators do not represent the interests of the people. Backed by Big Pharma reelection campaign money, our lawmakers are acting to directly enforce a Big Pharma monopoly at the expense of the public. While the exact same medications are available from Canada, Europe and other countries for nearly half the price paid in the United States, U.S. consumers will continue to be forced to pay monopoly prices on their medications thanks to the great U.S. Senate sellout to Big Pharma."
*****************
-------------------- --Lymetutu-- Opinions, not medical advice! Posts: 96223 | From Texas | Registered: Feb 2001
| IP: Logged |
bettyg
Unregistered
posted
sue, could you edit your post and break up those LONG solid block paragraphs into smaller ones so folks like me can COMPREHEND them; then i can action political action!
click the PENCIL ICON in your 1st post; that opens up the subject line and text. now please start breaking up the text into 1-2 sentences since they are so wordy! do this until you are done and hit the enter bar twice between EACH paragraph. click EDIT SEND when done.
trueblue
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 7348
posted
quote:Originally posted by brentb: Concerning this issue the AARP is NOT happy. Lets hope 38 million knowledgable voters can help!
Interesting... AARP supported giving Big Pharma Medicare part D. They lost a lot of members over that betrayal. Now they're concerned?
How many times do we get ****ed over?
AARP can kiss my *** in Macy's window at noon. We can thank them for helping get this ball rolling. Gee, you think changing their stripes again will get them their lost membership back? Ha!
-------------------- more light, more love more truth and more innovation Posts: 3783 | From somewhere other than here | Registered: May 2005
| IP: Logged |
quote:Originally posted by trueblue: AARP supported giving Big Pharma Medicare part D. They lost a lot of members over that betrayal. Now they're concerned?
I have total ignorance on this subject. (very interested however). I assume Medicare part D is not all they claim it is? As to this bill and amendment I wager they're forced to take this position. Against low cost meds...don't think so. If they are a sham it wont be the first fake front operation I've heard about.
btw, enjoyed the post Posts: 731 | From Humble,TX | Registered: Feb 2005
| IP: Logged |
sometimesdilly
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 9982
posted
say it ain't so, barbara mikulski.
and call her too to to let her know she just p-o'd a huge chunk of her constituency. which she absolutely did.
dilly
Posts: 2507 | From lost in the maze | Registered: Aug 2006
| IP: Logged |
Greatcod
Unregistered
posted
One of the things that makes Medicare D a gift to Big Pharma is that large quantity purchases and their negotiated substantially lower costs, such as the VA does, are prohibited.
So Big Pharma gets to sell their drugs at list, and that is hugely profitable.
Large purchases at lower cost would probably be as effective to the consumer as Medicare D, but without the associated cost to taxpayers. So the taxpayers give and Big Pharma takes.
posted
We'll get this country back. DISGUSTING...to think they do this on the backs of our elderly. Posts: 731 | From Humble,TX | Registered: Feb 2005
| IP: Logged |
posted
VOTE RON PAUL FOR PRESIDENT 2008 AND WE'LL GET OUR COUNTRY AND HEALTH FREEDOMS BACK. GOOGLE RON PAUL, HEALTH FREEDOM, ETC - WHEN I SPOKE WITH HIS OFFICE, I WAS TOLD HE'S BEEN FIGHTING FOR YEARS TO REFORM THE FDA AND ACCESS TO DIETARY SUPPLEMENTS, ETC.
Posts: 116 | From Plano, Texas, USA | Registered: May 2004
| IP: Logged |
Aniek
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 5374
posted
I know I won't be popular for saying this, but I don't think drug importation is a solution to the drug price problem.
If it did pass, it would make people think that Congress fixed the problem, when they really didn't. We need much larger changes to the health care system, and that includes pricing of prescription drugs.
And if the recent pet food incidents have taught us anything, it's that the FDA does not have the capability of inspecting food imports let alone drug imports. Importation would only work if Congress also included the money to pay for inspections.
-------------------- "When there is pain, there are no words." - Toni Morrison Posts: 4711 | From Washington, DC | Registered: Mar 2004
| IP: Logged |
sometimesdilly
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 9982
posted
Aniek-
i'm quite sure our government has all the resources it needs to ensure the safety of our food supply AND medicinal supply, if only, dear god, that was the priority.
over the past 20-25 years in particular, our representives and the executive branch have as a whole been throughly corrupted by monied interests.
the FDA has CHOSEN not to regulate, as has the EPA and every other regulatory agency, especially in the past 6 years.
no, importing prescription drugs would not have solved the problem of massively overpriced drugs in the USA. Nobody said it was supposed to solve the whole health care problem in one swell foop.
Where are the folks who demand the "free market" at every turn except when their own industry's profits are stake?
Why is it that of "civilized' countries, ONLY the allegedly most free and privileged people on the face of the planet- that would be us, can't afford to pay for the medications we need to get well? The same medications through tax-payer dollars we helped research through from draft till success?
Sorry Aniek, but on this one i couldn't disagree more.
FOR SHAME, the United States Senate. FOR SHAME!
Posts: 2507 | From lost in the maze | Registered: Aug 2006
| IP: Logged |
Aniek
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 5374
posted
Dilly,
It doesn't help that the government has the money if it is not appropriated for the use. Money needs to be appropriated for specific use. So, Congress would need to appropriate the money for inspections, or there will not be money for inspections.
I do think the FDA is at fault. But so is the President and Congress in not making it a priority. And as long as the FDA is not doing its job, do we really want it to have more to do?
-------------------- "When there is pain, there are no words." - Toni Morrison Posts: 4711 | From Washington, DC | Registered: Mar 2004
| IP: Logged |
sometimesdilly
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 9982
posted
i fault this president AND this spineless congress for not doing their sworn constitutional duties.
in terms of importing medicine, even without this government's protection.
i do not beleive there is any protection to be had for us peons, Aniek; maybe that accounts for our difference in opinion. the protection to be had are of profits, not our safety.
given that equation, i'm really ok with importing the same drugs from the same sources as those my european and cananadian friends rely upon.
dilly
Posts: 2507 | From lost in the maze | Registered: Aug 2006
| IP: Logged |
Greatcod
Unregistered
posted
One of the mmore interesting aspects is that Big Pharma has overseas production facilities that make drugs the don't make here. So they "import" their domestic supply from those overseas factories, and sell here at their US price. The same factory produces that product for sale in other countries at much lower prices, but the American consumer cannot buy that product from other countries at those lower prices, even though it is the exact same drug as we buy here. Oh mama.
IP: Logged |
posted
Last year, when I had used up my Medicare prescription benefit and hit the "donut hole", I was looking for ways to get some of my very expensive medications filled in an alternative way.
I researched Canadian drug companies and started ordering my Effexor XR from them. The last batch I received came first from Germany (the bottle was exactly the same as the US version but had writing in German), then it went to the UK and on to Canada.
Then the Canadian company sent me the meds in the original bottles. I paid 1/3 of what the same meds cost in the US.
I was told by the Canadian Co. that while the US occasionally seizes medications sent from other countries, they look the other way when scripts are for personal use and not more than 90 days worth.
LisaS
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 10581
posted
Plain & simple, our Pres is more obsessed with gaining control over another country that we cannot, and forgetting which country he is President of!
posted
It's all about the MONEY and NOT your health, If the Pharm co's had their way we would be eating medicines for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Posts: 116 | From Plano, Texas, USA | Registered: May 2004
| IP: Logged |
The Lyme Disease Network is a non-profit organization funded by individual donations. If you would like to support the Network and the LymeNet system of Web services, please send your donations to:
The
Lyme Disease Network of New Jersey 907 Pebble Creek Court,
Pennington,
NJ08534USA http://www.lymenet.org/
UBBFriend: Email this page to someone!
![[Mad]](mad.gif)
![[rant]](graemlins/rant.gif)
![[shake]](graemlins/shake.gif)
![[group hug]](graemlins/grouphug.gif)
![[kiss]](graemlins/kissing.gif)
![[cussing]](graemlins/cussing.gif)
![[Frown]](frown.gif)
![[lol]](graemlins/lol.gif)
![[puke]](graemlins/puke.gif)
Printer-friendly view of this topic