The pharmaceutical companies have launched major
advertising campaigns recently, aimed at promoting their new over-the-counter
(OTC) drugs - first the antacids - and now Nicorettes, one of the few
aids to quit smoking on the market.
An acquaintance of mine who has been trying to stop
smoking was elated when the pharmacist told her the Nicorettes should
be cheaper when they went over-the-counter; she was paying $40 for a
package of 96. Boy, was she wrong!
As soon as the news hit the media, my friend went
to her local pharmacy to renew her supply and found that OTC Nicorettes
was now packaged as a "Starter Kit," including a video, for
$53. Refills were packaged in units of 48 for $29.95. In other words,
what she used to pay $40 for on prescription, now cost approximately
$60 - an increase of $20 per 96 pieces of gum!
What's going on here? Legalized robbery is what's
going on. Basic services like utilities have oversight committees to
make sure that costs of necessities remain affordable. Are pharmaceutical
drugs necessities? For most ofthe over 60 population who have become
dependent upon them - as dictated by their physicians - they are necessities.
People on Social Security and often low income are at the mercy of these
multinational giants.
It's not unusual for a senior citizen to be taking
$400 worth of prescription drugs each month, and for many it becomes
a real hardship. Every few months the drug companies come out with another
drug for heart conditions, cholesterol, blood pressure, gastrointestinal
drugs, etc. and physicians are encouraged to prescribe these "newer"
drugs; often at higher prices. They don't really claim these drugs are
better, just newer.
Now that the drug companies are facing competition
from the alternative medical community, seeing their profit margins
shrink, and their friend and ally, the FDA, under close scrutiny for
reform, they will find new ways to maximize profits. I don't recall
much being discussed during the great"heaath reform" debates,
about the cost of drugs being out-of-line, or in any way contributing
to the exorbitant cost of health care.
It is schizophrenic for our society to continue
to spend billions of dollars on "the war on drugs" while the
multinational corporations go unchallenged in their pursuit of profits
and little accountability. On the one hand we have the government considering
making tobacco a controlled substance, while on the other hand, billions
oftaxpayers' monies are used to subsidize drug research; drugs with
dangerous side effects and little proven benefit.
It seems that the more the government does to 'Lprotect"
the citizens, the more we wind up paying. The Kefauver-Harris amendment
in the early 60's, calling for "substantial evidence" to prove
the effectiveness of any new drug, was perhaps the most crucial. That
legislative step gave the FDA and the pharmaceuticals a much wider turf
to control, effectively making themselves the only authority on what
was "scientific."
If the FDA could really be reformed - to protect
the public interest, rather than the profits of the pharmaceutical companies
(as they have openly stated as their primary charge), there would be
less room for fraud and abuse, which are rampant now. It is the government
bureaucracies which need reform, as the only protection consumers have
against being exploited in a controlled marketplace. But it's becoming
apparent that the politicians prefer to protect their campaign contributions.
Within such a complex system of government/corporate
interactions, the consumer can do several things: 1. Avoid using pharmaceutical
drugs, except for serious illnesses and learn how to stay healthy with
the non-drug alternatives being proven as safe and effective; 2. Continue
to work hard for legislative freedom of choice in health care.
Irene Alleger, Editor
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