E-DRUG: Millions for Viagra, Pennies for the Poor (cont)
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Dear All:
Richard Laing's comments are, as ever, Dexedrine to the soul. His slant on
what motivates corporations is, if nothing else, as clear as it is
unflattering. But having worked in a very large corporation and having
responsibility for its public policy stance, I have to say it just is not
that simple.
Sure Pfizer is making a great deal of money on Viagra, but has anyone heard
about Pfizer's gift of its antibiotic to defeat blinding trachoma in
Vietnam and four other nations? Actually, Richard has heard about that
gift; he opines that the antibiotic wouldn't be needed if the water was
clean. To which I'd say yep, and we wouldn't need condoms if the rhythm
method worked. Richard, get real!
Similarly, Merck is so successful it's a Dow Industrial. But is the
pursuit of profit the reason it initiated the Mectizan program, now in its
dozenth year, to eliminate river blindness as a public health threat? Tell
me, Richard, what agency of government has done as much to free 120 million
people from this one disease?
One more example. SmithKline Beecham, the firm investors love for Paxil
and Tagamet, the first billion dollar drug in history. What's it doing
making an open-ended commitment to stop lymphatic filariasis, which
incapacitates almost a billion people in 73 countries?
Any greedy corporate leader in his or her right mind would say these guys
are nuts.
Unless they knew the truth: that the drive for profit, alone, is not what
moves these people. It isn't. What they crave is winning, however
defined.
The job of those who cry for the poor is to find ways to make those CEOs
see that one definition of "winning" is to use their power to achieve
really lasting things.
In my opinion, those who relish criticizing big corporations have their
proverbial heads in their proverbial cecums. If we really want to help our
less fortunate brothers and sisters, we need to encourage the likes of
Merck and Pfizer and SmithKline to grow and multiply. Finding fault,
that's what ex-spouces do.
James B. Russo
Executive Director
The Partnership for Quality Medical Donations
146 Koenig Road
Bernville, PA 19506 USA
jbrusso@aol.com
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