Big Pharma Pre-emption

[cjbrooksjc]

Following is a post from another site to which I subscribe. I thought it would interest the group.

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Speak up, speak out

Last month, I told you about, pre-emption, the latest legal loophole Big Pharma is attempting to squeeze its way through. Pre-emption would make lawsuits filed by patients who have been harmed by side effects associated with pharmaceutical products illegal on the basis that a pharmaceutical company can't be sued over a drug or other product once it has been approved by the FDA.

For the past several decades, courts in the U.S. have dismissed claims of pre-emption. But that may change very soon: According to one source, "The Supreme Court is set to rule on a case next term that could make pre-emption a legal standard for drug cases."

So it's critical that we make our own case -- against pre-emption -- before the Supreme Court hands it to Big Pharma on a silver platter.

Write and call your state and local representatives and tell them you oppose pre-emption in patent drug cases and that you expect them to represent those views in Congress.

Granted, it may not affect the outcome of the upcoming Supreme Court case, but the fact is, you never know until you try. And the more voices there are speaking out against pre- emption, the more likely los Federales are to hear them

To find the names, addresses, and telephone numbers of your congressmen, visit the United States House of Representatives website *www.house.gov. To locate contact information for your state senators, visit the senate website, *www.senate.gov. For a one-stop resource for locating and writing to your representatives, visit *www.congress.org (a website run by a group called Capitol Advantage). You can also find out the contact information for your state's members of Congress by calling the United States Capitol switchboard at (202)224-3121.

Yours in good health,

Amanda Ross
Editor
Nutrition & Healing

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Regards,

Brooks

[Brian C.]

The long game is to destroy the FDA along with all other public bodies to allow corporations unfettered action in pursuit of profit. The solution of the Prisoner's Dilemma problem by John Forbes Nash (for which he received the Nobel Prize in Economics) provided the theoretical underpinning to justify purely selfish behaviour. This reinforced the doctrine of pure markets developed at the University of Chicago that began to become increasingly influential in the Sixties. According to this doctrine ALL government involvement is, literally, evil no matter (or perhaps, especially) if it is motivated by humanitarian impulses to ameliorate suffering.

To his credit Nash ("The Beautiful Mind") wholeheartedly rejects this use of his mathematics, describing it as only pertinent to the behaviour of economists....and psychopaths!

Brian.

[cjbrooksjc]

The big Pharma push toward preemption is an unrealistic expansion on the theories of John Nash, Milton Friedman, and even Adam Smith (circa 1790), all of whom felt that a self-serving focus on individual rewards in any field of economic endeavor would result in healthy competition and, where necessary, Gov't intervention and control. The part that has broken down here is the intervention and control bit. They all felt Gov't function was to provide for the health and safety of society where individuals could not provide reliable funding or could not be trusted with overall management (health, education, welfare, libraries, museums, national defense, etc.); that, essentially - government is good, but GOOD government is best. We've just got a load of BAD government managing our civil institutions now. And even if it seems fruitless we HAVE TO keep writing our congressmen and Federal institutions... even the greatest of waterfalls begins with a single raindrop.

Regards,

Brooks

[Brian C.]

With respect Brooks, Friedman and his legion of followers did/do NOT see government social provision as desireable. In their schema all such activity is to be privatized. It is not "bad" government in terms of incompetence but "bad" in the sense of a ruthless implementation a harsh doctrine.

Look closely at what is happening in post-Katrina New Orleans to see the template.

The legacy of Roosevelt's New Deal is dead and buried and a change of organ grinder's monkey is not going to change the tune.

Brian.

[cjbrooksjc]

Brian: We disagree, but I think the devil is in the detail & not in the principle or resultant socio-economic conditions. The view of gov't as an umpire to prevent individuals from coercing one another was replaced after the depression by a view of gov't's role as that of a parent charged with the duty of coercing SOME to AID others (Medicine and us to aid Pharma is an extension of that premise).

Although this economic discourse seems far afield of our aches and pains, it is still pertinent and ultimately necessary we all understand with which parties the fault lies (Gov't and Pharma) for our Statin dilemma and what avenues are open to us for grievance.

BTW: have you heard from our friend lately?

Best,

Brooks

[Brian C.]

"BTW: have you heard from our friend lately? "

Yes and he's back on full song I'm glad to say.

Brian.