The Pharmaceutical Industry, Merck, and Rick Perry.

Tsk, tsk, tsk...the pharmaceutical industry.

I'm a registered nurse, and have seen only the tip of the iceberg.


Here's a very small part of the big problem (and how it impacts our horrible economy)--

Image Compliments of: http://www.pharmaregulation.com/images/home_image.jpg 

Whichever company discovers the chemical make-up of a drug, gets to own the PATENT to that drug. The PATENT is what is worth so much money-not the actual pill/tablet/capsule. The top 10 Pharmaceutical Companies and their estimated revenue are:

*Johnson & Johnson: $61.9 BILLION

*Pfizer: $50.01 BILLION

Roche: $47.35 BILLION

GlaxoSmithKline: $45.83 BILLION

Novartis: $44.27 BILLION

Sanofi: $ 41.99 BILLION

AstraZeneca: $32.81 BILLION

*Abbott: $30.76 BILLION

*Merck: $27.43 MILLION

Bayer:: $22.3 BILLION

*Eli Lilly: $21.84 BILLION

*Bristol-Myers Squibb: $18.81 BILLION

*Companies with an asterisk are US companies. The only other countries that have more than one pharmaceutical industry in the top 12 world-wide are the UK (2 companies) and Switzerland (2 companies). The US has 6 of the top 12 companies. This is not something to be proud of, because these companies are not helping the economy-they are HURTING the economy.

(Data collected from the ever-trustworthy: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_pharmaceutical_companies)

If you look at the top-selling drugs, you'll find Pfizer's "Lipitor" (for cholesterol) remains the best-selling drug world-wide. Annual sales were $12.9 BILLION from this one little pill alone in 2006. The next top-selling drugs are Plavix (by Bristol-Myers Squibb, a blood-thinner), Nexium (by AstraZeneca for heartburn), and Advair (by GlaxoSmith Kline, for asthma). The top 2 selling drugs IN THE ENTIRE WORLD, Lipitor and Plavix, are made by American companies. All of these top-selling drugs are for life-long conditions. Funny....there is no CURE for cholesterol, heartburn, or asthma....just life-long dependence on a pill. Life-long customers, in other words.

Image compliments of: http://americansformorality.com/sick/pharm.jpg

(Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pharmaceutical_industry)

We should all be grateful for the science, education, and hard work, that has gone behind the research and development for these drugs that ultimately prolong life expectancy. However, I believe our country has become completely dependent on these drugs, rather than healthy lifestyle choices, and rather than research toward finding a CURE rather than finding a new dependency.  

There are more lobbyists in the pharmaceutical industry than any other, and those lobbyists make their voices heard to our elected officials. One prime example in my home state, is that of Rick Perry and Merck. Merck, the 9th largest pharmaceutical industry in the world, has deep ties with the TX governor, Rick Perry. All political preferences aside, here are some facts from 2007--

Image compliments of: http://itsallmaya.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/gardasil-1.jpg

*Mike Toomey was Rick Perry's former chief of staff. Mike Toomey was one of Merck's THREE lobbyists in the state of TX. 

*Dianne White Delisi was a state director for Women in Government. Dianne is Mike Toomey's mother-in-law.

*Women in Government and Merck teamed together and tried to get Rick Perry to make GARDASIL, a HPV vaccination, mandatory for all 6th grade girls in the state of TX.

*Rick Perry HIMSELF received $6,000 from a Merck political action committee during his re-election campaign.

Keep in mind, Gov. Perry opposes abortion and stem-cell research using embryonic cells. Yet he was trying to make an STD vaccine mandatory in all schools. (Source: http://www.kbtx.com/home/headlines/5546651.html) Speaking from experience, I can tell you WITH health insurance, this vaccine cost me almost $400. 

Gardasil protects against 4 types of HPV-there are over 150 types, however. That's right. This vaccine protects against 1 out of every 40 strains. (Source: http://www.gardasil.com/) It is estimated that about 12,000 women in the US are diagnosed with cervical cancer related to HPV, and 4,000 will die from it. However, "most HPV infections go away on their own without causing any type of abnormality,"according to http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/Risk/HPV. Furthermore, "the majority of infections with high-risk HPV types go away on their own and do not cause cancer." 

According to the Center for Disease Control, "HPV is so common that at least 50% of sexually active men and women get it at some point in their lives." Since only 12,000 women get cervical cancer in the US each year, it's apparent that the majority of people with HPV do NOT have cervical cancer, and advertising a HPV vaccine as a vaccination AGAINST cervical cancer is utilizing a fear tactic, AGAINST women, mind you (not men, despite the fact that they are carriers as well), in order to make $360 PER insured female. (Source: http://www.cdc.gov/std/hpv/stdfact-hpv.htm)

Even conservatives in the state of Texas strongly opposed this proposition because UNLIKE whooping cough, measles, chicken pox, etc...there is only ONE way to get HPV, and that is through sexual contact. When has there ever been a vaccination against an STD in a public school before?! For a pro-life governor, this seems to go against the stance of abstinence.

There is no possible way I could know all the ins and outs of the pharmaceutical industry, and how it relates to US politics. I know it happens on both left and right, and I know that neither party is innocent. However, I get incredibly annoyed when people just trust their government without any questions. Thank goodness Governor Perry's proposal to make every 11 and 12 year old have the Gardasil vaccine didn't pass. Gardasil is THE MOST EXPENSIVE VACCINE EVER MARKETED IN THE UNITED STATES (Source: http://theunitedstatesconstitution.blogspot.com/). Just imagine if every 6th grade girl in TX had been vaccinated...how much money Merck would've made....and turned around and put right back in Governor Perry's pocket for the next election.

Image compliments of: http://www.treehugger.com/GovRickPerry-headshot1.jpg

Pharmaceutical reps still can wine and dine doctors. They can come to the office, take them out to dinner, bring the staff lunch, etc....just ask people who work in doctor's offices! This makes the physician more likely to prescribe that rep's particular drug, as opposed to another. Shouldn't the patient be prescribed the drug that they need, as opposed to the drug that has the most money?? Where is the legislation that would keep these drug companies in line?? I'm absolutely disgusted with the pharmaceutical industry, and politicians on either side of the aisle who accept money during the campaign from these companies, then attempt to make legislation based on those monetary contributions.