E-DRUG: The Truth About the Drug Companies (5)
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I want to raise a few points here as this discussion is getting warm:
1. The pharmaceutical industry in almost any country in the world is the most profitable business among the legitimate ones. Consequently the resulting money power cultivates enough power lobbies to ensure a business environment conducive to growth for these companies. The tool of patents is more often misused than used.
2. Having said that, I want to ask - do we have an alternative? I would wager on the negative as no amount of public funding is going to provide for medicines in any country, and we have examples of miserable failures of state owned R&D or production units in most countries. Even these public institutes are openly asking for money from private companies to fund their activities.
3. The R&D budgets of all companies include the 'administrative costs' of traveling and conveyance, conferences in the best cities in the world etc, as per 'standard' accounting practices. All these costs are also recovered by selling the medicines at high prices. The point I am making is that the companies earn tremendously inspite of incurring all these expenses. On the other hand the government sponsored institutes barely survive doing the same things. The lesson in this is that government has no business in running a business. It should instead be a watchdog with sharp teeth.
4. I remember a quotable quote from Isaac Asimov when I was in 8th grade in school - We have a tiger by the tail - where he was referring to science in general (meaning it can be used for good or bad). This can be easily said for the pharmaceutical industry as represented by a tiger. The role of government should be to hold it by the tail and control to the advantage of the masses that it represents.
To sum up, things are never in black and white - its a large gray area most of the time. The pharmaceutical industry should not be a flogging horse nor allowed to roam freely without checks.
With best regards
J P S Kohli (B. Pharm)
Business Horizons
Pharmaceutical Publishers
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