The pharmaceutical industry, “Big Pharma” as it is known, is like any other enterprise, so saying that it exists to make money is simply stating the obvious. Or is it?
The fact is that Big Pharma deliberately and carefully crafts its marketing to project an image of far higher motivation. The pharmaceutical industry would have you believe that they are the saviours of the modern world, they aim to rid us of disease. The truth is they cause disease, providing the tools for much iatragenesis. So it is quite important to keep things in perspective. Yes, they have provided some useful products that can be life saving (some emergency drugs for instance) and some that provide, on balance, more benefits than harms in most cases. They also lie and cheat, falsify research findings, mislead approval authorities, and no doubt do far worse.
Indeed some pharmaceutical industry harms to society are in the form of bad drugs that fail to do what they claim and instead cause illness and death. Others are in the form of exhorbitant prices that drain the public coffers and consumer’s wallets and purses. Predatory dumping of drugs on third world countries when they are banned or not approved in first world countries is also seen. Make no mistake, Big Pharma is not your friend.
It has been interesting to note how little regard the pharmaceutical industry has given HIV/AIDS. There was a flourish of interest when the big AIDS scare occurred in western countries some decades ago, and then very little interest was expressed. Why? Well, perhaps it was because the nations where HIV/AIDS has huge numbers of sufferers are nations with little money. When there is no money to be made Big Pharma loses interest, and marketable “altruism” very fast. But now this:
U.S. Pharmaceutical Companies Developing 97 New Drugs And Vaccines To Fight HIV/AIDS
05 Dec 2009
Chemistry World recently highlighted a new report published by the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) that identifies 97 new drugs and vaccines in development for HIV/AIDS and related conditions.
The report found that the 97 products in development include 23 vaccines and 54 antivirals. These drugs are either in human clinical trials or awaiting approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
“We are greatly encouraged by these critically important medicines and vaccines in development to treat and prevent HIV infection,” said PhRMA President and CEO Billy Tauzin. “Pharmaceutical researchers are continuing their efforts to develop new therapies and vaccines to improve and lengthen the lives of HIV-infected patients.”
“As a result of HIV/AIDS medicines, a disease that was once a virtual death sentence can now be controlled and treated as if it were a chronic disease,” stated Tauzin. “And the new medicines our scientists are working on right now bring hope for even more promising results in the future.”
December 1 marks the 21st anniversary of “World AIDS Day” – a global awareness campaign that originated at the 1988 World Summit of Ministers of Health on Programmes for AIDS Prevention.
Source: Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America
I don’t think any serious observer of the pharmaceutical industry can be excused for wondering if this new-found enthusiasm could be related to the massive amounts of funding being pumped into HIV/AIDS-affected third world countries by multi-billionair philanthropists.
Tags: disease exploitation, disease means money, iatragenesis, therapy pedlars