MattTheSkywalker said:
Don't blame the industries - theyhave no power at all, except what the government allows.
well then they are allowing an aweful lot of bs thus far...
and you are right..... hell if you let a winos were free to run into stores and empty out cash registers they would.... so I guess until someone steps in and put a stop to it, it will continue...
so basically the bill will help subsidize and encourage these already inflated prices we are paying..... which will not cease because after all, it is not the govt's money, it is ours- so why do they care what the end cost is.....
I am sure they have our best interests in mind...
(I am not saying they will get thier way- but it is far from over)
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Key U.S. lawmaker criticised for considering job offer as chief pharmaceutical lobbyist
by Candace Hoffmann
01/30/2004
U.S. Representative W.J. "Billy" Tauzin, who was instrumental in helping to negotiate the Medicare reform legislation passed just a few weeks ago, is said to be considering taking a job as head of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturing Association, news sources report. The possibility that he may take the lobbying job after being one of the lawmakers who helped craft the bill, which many claim favours the drug industry, is being widely criticised.
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said that Tauzin's consideration of the alleged offer from PhRMA is "inappropriate," and that "seniors who are wondering why the pharmaceutical companies made out so well in this bill at their expense, need only to look at this example of abuse of power and conflict of interest," Pelosi is quoted as saying at a news conference.
The government watchdog group Public Citizen is calling for an investigation to determine if PhRMA approached Tauzin for the job while the Medicare reform legislation was being negotiated. A spokesman for the congressman and Majority Leader Roy Blunt both maintain that Tauzin was only approached after the bill was signed into law, a news source says.
Tauzin said he has so far not made a decision and an announcement won't be forthcoming for several weeks, his spokesman told news sources. Nonetheless, some insiders say that he would find it difficult to reject the offer, which would reportedly pay him over $1 million a year.
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PhRMA says industry will continue to fight drug imports
by William Kanapaux
01/23/2004
The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America said Thursday that defeating any federal legislation to legalise the importation of prescription drugs from Canada will be a top priority this year, news sources report.
A number of members of Congress from both parties have said they will introduce the issue this year. And, according to PhRMA, 25 U.S. states and 15 cities and counties are considering programmes to import drugs as well, the news sources say.
"It is very clear that importation is not a safe practice," Rick Smith, a PhRMA senior vice president, is quoted as saying. "Importation has been proposed as a false solution."
States are facing budget deficits that total $2.8 billion, a news source reports, and the National Governors Association is planning to hold a summit on the importation issue after its winter meeting next month. Smith said the industry trade group plans to "actively engage in this debate" as state lawmakers across the country consider drug-importation programmes.
According to Alan Sager, the director of the Health Reform Program at Boston University's School of Public Health, drugmakers stand to lose as much as 40 percent of their profit for each prescription bought in Canada, a news source reports.
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