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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colchicine ... xclusivity

This co got market exclusivity for three years on this drug, so they're gonna milk the hell out of it & get every damned cent they can from the poor sick bastards out there...then the generics will come out at $3-4 a pop, & they'll have made tons of bucks off of the ppl in the meantime. Have you noticed the innumerable ads for this gout "wonder drug," lately, on TV? It's a very old traditional med that this co has gotten the patent on, & plans to sell at $4.95 per pill, evidently, when it SHOULD be readily available to everyone, for 9 cents a dose. It says a lot about both the co, & our FDA, doesn't it?

This co should be forced to donate all of their gouged profits to the homeless, or the poor & sick in this country. This sh*t is unconsionable!

Did you see the part where this "new" drug has been used for 1,500 YEARS?!?!?! How can a co GET a patent on something like that?

I think it's time we started VOTING for ppl in the FDA, rather than let some corporate-owned assholes in our gov't (that we VOTE for) appoint them. This kind of corruption (& there IS no other word for it!) is rampant in our country, & it must be stopped!

Someone should do some research on exactly WHO has appointed these THIEVES in the FDA, & start a campaign against them AND the pharmaceutical firm, Colcrys!

This has nothing to do with capitalism, imho. It's one thing to DEVELOP something & get credit & monetary returns for your work, & quite another to be the first to patent something already used for millennia, & then charge outrageous costs for it - ESPECIALLY when it's a medicine!

When it comes to meds, there should be a cap on the amount of profit that a co can make from their work. There should also be higher liability costs for the poisonous meds they sell before they're properly tested. These types of opportunistic moves by pharmaceutical firms, allowed by our gov't, result in destroying ppl's ability to live off of their own hard-earned monies! Gout, if left unchecked, can kill you. Ppl need this medicine. At $4.95 per pill, a month's worth is $148.50!!!! They SHOULD be selling it for $2.70, for 30 pills. That's what...a 5,500 % increase in UNEARNED PROFITS? Is this acceptable, in anyone's mind? If so - explain it to me!

God help 'em all when I become king of the world!

I agree, although I’m really hesitant about the idea of you being king. Now if you give me an “office with a view”, then we can talk. The FDA is appointed by the pharmaceutical companies. Not directly of course, but I’m certain their millions of dollars towards political influence, doesn’t fall on deaf ears.


The commissioner of the FDA:
Dr. Hamburg is the daughter of Dr. David A. Hamburg, a former president of the Institute of Medicine and a longtime force in public health. She has two teenage children and serves on the boards of Henry Schein, a medical products distributor, and the Sidwell Friends School, where the president’s daughters, Malia and Sasha Obama, are students,.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/12/us/politics/12hamburg.html?_r=1
http://www.henryschein.com/Default.aspx

“According to the The Wall Street Journal, the couple reported assets of $21 million to $40 million (disclosure forms call for income and assets to be reported in broad ranges). They will have to divest themselves of several holdings, including pharmaceutical stocks, to avoid conflicts of interest.
Hamburg, who will make $150,000 a year at the FDA, has resigned her board position at medical supplier Henry Schein, Inc., and has sold off nearly $3 million in company stock over the past several days.”
http://fedupusa.wordpress.com/dept-of-health-and-human-services/fda-food-and-drug-administration/
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124328188115551961.html

The Obama administration has set up a new agency CPAFB. (Consumer Protection Financial Bureau) scheduled to be operational in the summer of 2011

Headed by a Harvard professor Elisabeth Warren, she testified in front of a Congressional Committee where she stated that the financial system in the country was heading toward a meltdown one year before it happened.

Since then she has been part of Obama administration financial adviser and lobbied for the creation of the new agency, during several interviews she said that she would first tackle the shady practices of credit cards lenders, I don’t know if the mandate of this new agency extends to pharmaceutical companies, Hospitals and health care providers in general... I hope it does.

I wish her luck because the task of regulating the greed... rampantly permeating everywhere is at best daunting at worse impossible due to the amount of corporation’s financial resources not to mention lobbyists, sold out politicians and able lawyers on their payroll who will fight any attempt from any government agency to regulate them.

Time will tell unfortunately time like money is a commodity that millions of struggling Americans don’t have.

The link below is a youtube Elisabeth warren interview for anyone interested.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k8jypW5pmXo&feature=related

I'm surprised no one has mentioned the fact that, although this medicine has been available for 1,500 years, now, for some reason, the FDA has given exclusive rights to a single co to distribute & sell it in this country. That smells of monopolism, perhaps, considering that there were other sources for the meds in times past, does it not? This looks like a huge scandal, to me, but there are no ppl reporting on it, or even questioning the legality of it. It's an accepted way to do business in the USA? IS this "business as usual?" I think, perhaps, that it is, which makes it even worse.

Our medical establishment is pernicious and evil. The ONE reason I would be for a national health insurance is to put the damn pharmaceutical companies out of business. The best think I can say about big pharmaceutical companies is that they are run by evil pieces of rotten scum...

My bad Phil I totally skipped the link and just read your post. From what I got from the Wiki is that the seven year exclusivity was a reward for them doing official trials, concluding that the drug that had been used for 1,200 years, was indeed safe. Without those tests, really who would have known?

The board of directors that Margaret Hamburg, the commissioner of the FDA served on was for Henry Schein: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124328188115551961.html

“Before her FDA nomination, Dr. Hamburg also served for five years on the board of Henry Schein Inc., a $4 billion firm that distributes medical and dental supplies including vaccines. Her remuneration has been in the form of Schein shares.”

http://www.henryschein.com/us-en/medical/supplies/PharmaGuide.aspx

The chief financial officer at URL Pharma (the company winning in the decision) spent eleven years at Schein Pharmaceutical. http://www.urlpharma.com/url_about_PeopleBio.aspx

“Treasurer of Savient Pharmaceuticals, a branded specialty pharmaceutical company traded on NASDAQ (Savient was formerly known as Bio-Technology General) and he spent 11 years at Schein Pharmaceuticals, in positions of increasing responsibility, where his last position was Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer.”

Now perhaps they were not there at the same time, or perhaps even if they were, it could be of absolutely no consequence. But I can’t help but think anyone on the board would know the chief financial officer and the fact URL Pharma were given 7 year exclusivity for two additional trials (which they probably billed the gov for anyway), leaves me more than a little suspicious.

You know you could do something about it. I bet you without leaving home you could connect enough dots through the internet to make a compelling case, and make for an interesting article. All you have to do is follow the money. That communicable disease center she is so proud of on Rikers island cost New York $250,000.00 per unit (x140). They could have bought a duplex house for each instead. And it is literally a tent with positive ventilation sold as an architectural triumph. I wonder what mutual contacts are there as well? How much you want to bet, that all the equipment for that facility was purchased through Henry Schein?

lalong wrote:My bad Phil I totally skipped the link and just read your post. From what I got from the Wiki is that the seven year exclusivity was a reward for them doing official trials, concluding that the drug that had been used for 1,200 years, was indeed safe. Without those tests, really who would have known?

The board of directors that Margaret Hamburg, the commissioner of the FDA served on was for Henry Schein: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124328188115551961.html

“Before her FDA nomination, Dr. Hamburg also served for five years on the board of Henry Schein Inc., a $4 billion firm that distributes medical and dental supplies including vaccines. Her remuneration has been in the form of Schein shares.”

http://www.henryschein.com/us-en/medical/supplies/PharmaGuide.aspx

The chief financial officer at URL Pharma (the company winning in the decision) spent eleven years at Schein Pharmaceutical. http://www.urlpharma.com/url_about_PeopleBio.aspx

“Treasurer of Savient Pharmaceuticals, a branded specialty pharmaceutical company traded on NASDAQ (Savient was formerly known as Bio-Technology General) and he spent 11 years at Schein Pharmaceuticals, in positions of increasing responsibility, where his last position was Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer.”

Now perhaps they were not there at the same time, or perhaps even if they were, it could be of absolutely no consequence. But I can’t help but think anyone on the board would know the chief financial officer and the fact URL Pharma were given 7 year exclusivity for two additional trials (which they probably billed the gov for anyway), leaves me more than a little suspicious.

You know you could do something about it. I bet you without leaving home you could connect enough dots through the internet to make a compelling case, and make for an interesting article. All you have to do is follow the money. That communicable disease center she is so proud of on Rikers island cost New York $250,000.00 per unit (x140). They could have bought a duplex house for each instead. And it is literally a tent with positive ventilation sold as an architectural triumph. I wonder what mutual contacts are there as well? How much you want to bet, that all the equipment for that facility was purchased through John Schein?

Like I said, run by pieces of rotten scum. They only care about one thing, $. That's it. $. Corner the market, take every conceivable consumable that could help people get well, make them unavailable except through prescritptions, have a multi billion dollar company have exclusive rights to that consumable, and FU*K everybody in the arse. Did you know that at aone time the pharmaceutical companies were lobbying the FDA to take garlic cloves out of the supermarkets and make them a controlled substance? Do you know why? Because if more people ate more garlic they would get far less colds, have far less heart attacks, and buy far less drugs, that's why. Don't get me started on big pharma. THEY ARE GOD-DAMNED HUMAN SCUM.

Well that was friggin embarrassing.

It’s a different Schein. I typed Schein pharmaceuticals and the top three results gave me Henry Schein and Watson which doesn’t sound anything like Schein. But apparently Watson Pharmaceuticals bought out “Schein Pharmaceuticals Inc.” which isn’t Henry Schein. I’m tired of being confused all the time. Sorry for pissing you off Bob.

lalong wrote:Well that was friggin embarrassing.

It’s a different Schein. I typed Schein pharmaceuticals and the top three results gave me Henry Schein and Watson which doesn’t sound anything like Schein. But apparently Watson Pharmaceuticals bought out “Schein Pharmaceuticals Inc.” which isn’t Henry Schein. I’m tired of being confused all the time. Sorry for pissing you off Bob.

I've been pissed off for years and years...

Obama has handed out dozens of "free passes" to mega corporations relieving them of the forced health care obligation... purchasing and providing health care to their employees.
Only the large supporters (financial) of his administration got these. Not small business.
He also said that he would insist on publically aired senate hearing on the bill... he held a "private" meeting with the leaders of the health care (and I say care sarcastically) and insurance industries.
So what do you expect from him?

Obama is first and foremost a lawyer. All of his legislation has been overladen with legal mumbo jumbo, primarily as a payback to his attorney political supporters. In his mind the more complicated the legislation the more lawyers are needed to interpret and/or enforce it. I voted for him but now I'm extraordinarily sorry that I did. He has brought Chicago politics to the White House. His "transparency" promises have manifested themselves as a clear window to his extremely complicated legislation. It is also transparent that he is going to be a one-term President much like Jimmy Carter.

I hate seeing medical companies and doctors demonized.

How many billions go into researching new drugs? It is not audacity to then try to get a return, or even break even, on this investment. This is made even more difficult by a burdensome and corrupt government beauracracy that has and FDA that has never produced nor healed a single thing.

Then the doctors and pharmacists who work at and found such companies and organizations get nothing but greif for wanting to get paid thier worth. 12 years of the prime of life, plus countless hours, days and weeks on post graduate and clinical studies spent on finding a way to advance and maintain medical science.

What evil people to be so selfish as to think that they should get paid after putting forth such an effort to get educated, qualified and pass the scrutiny of the government, thier peers and finally the public.

Only to be pissed on daily by people in the government who then want to turn them into slaves by making thier services free, or paid a pittance partially out of thier own pocket.

Yeah, the phameceutical companies and doctors are the evil ones.

fisherman bob wrote:Obama is first and foremost a lawyer. All of his legislation has been overladen with legal mumbo jumbo, primarily as a payback to his attorney political supporters. In his mind the more complicated the legislation the more lawyers are needed to interpret and/or enforce it. I voted for him but now I'm extraordinarily sorry that I did. He has brought Chicago politics to the White House. His "transparency" promises have manifested themselves as a clear window to his extremely complicated legislation. It is also transparent that he is going to be a one-term President much like Jimmy Carter.

I just wish it were someone from the left replacing him. I doubt the country could survive another Republican administration. Dubya Shrub sure tested the limits of what it could.

BassBastard wrote:I hate seeing medical companies and doctors demonized.

How many billions go into researching new drugs? It is not audacity to then try to get a return, or even break even, on this investment. This is made even more difficult by a burdensome and corrupt government beauracracy that has and FDA that has never produced nor healed a single thing.

Then the doctors and pharmacists who work at and found such companies and organizations get nothing but greif for wanting to get paid thier worth. 12 years of the prime of life, plus countless hours, days and weeks on post graduate and clinical studies spent on finding a way to advance and maintain medical science.

What evil people to be so selfish as to think that they should get paid after putting forth such an effort to get educated, qualified and pass the scrutiny of the government, thier peers and finally the public.

Only to be pissed on daily by people in the government who then want to turn them into slaves by making thier services free, or paid a pittance partially out of thier own pocket.

Yeah, the phameceutical companies and doctors are the evil ones.

I try not to demonize Dr's, cuz I know a few, & they're generally good ppl, but pharm co's? I have no reason to trust them. Every year they have to recall some drug they pushed on us for some bullshit disease that they made up so they can make a profit. They DO overcharge for their products, as is obvious, when you see what their drugs cost elsewhere.

Come on, BB! Do you REALLY believe that this 5,500% PROFIT markup is called for to cover their "testing" of a drug that's been proven by over a millennia of use? It's price gouging, pure & simple. There ain't no other way to see it, for me.

The very worst thing our gov't allowed was the advertising of drugs to the general population. My wife was on anti-depressants for 9 years. The Dr didn't even know how long "clinical depression" is s;posed to last (ONE YEAR), but she knew all sorts of drugs that could be perscribed for it. Our Dr;s are constantly being "educated" by these pharm outfits, & ppl are encouraged to diagnose themselves & push their Dr's for unnecessary drugs! it's a huge machine that has little to nothing to do with "health," & EVERYTHING to do with "profit" at the expense of sick OR well ppl!