Who says government and private industry can’t co-exist? When there is money to be made, you can be sure that government will find a way to work with the private sector.
The Cheerios police at the Food and Drug Administration are covering the backsides of their favorite companies again, this time at the expense of children. Certain types of drugs, called TNF blockers which are used to treat childhood arthritis have been found to cause cancer in children if used more than a few years.
Well, that’s bad news-let’s get that crap off the shelves. Not so fast. The FDA in their infinite wisdom have decided that a stern warning label will suffice. No plans to pull the drugs, no back to drawing board for the companies that are profiting from the drugs, and those companies are some of the biggest names in the business. Johnson & Johnson, Abbott Laboratories, UCB SA, Amgen Inc and Wyeth among others are raking in billions of dollars…each, selling these drugs. Pull them off the shelf? Are you kidding?
This isn’t the first time that the FDA has left dangerous drugs on the shelf while at the same time attacking other drugs with dubious claims of certain disaster due to self-abuse. We can only speculate about the level of kick backs and payoffs that occur in the pharmaceutical industry. After all, most FDA officials end up working for these same companies after their service in government.
Did I say we can only speculate? Well, we know that Obama is in the tank for big pharma, and they’ve pulled out the stops for him in order to pass Obamacare. Sounds like a little mutual assured destruction. The more this health care plan is touted, the angrier Americans get. And we all know that Obama has a penchant for throwing allies under the bus. Did you hear that big pharma?
Why don’t we concentrate on what’s broken instead of how to make it worse. Drug prices? You could make an argument. Drug safety? Definitely broken. FDA? We already know they have a history of bad decisions and ineffective safety controls. Don’t believe me, ask China. Forget the overhaul and patch the holes. I’m confident that this ship will continue to sail.
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