The Lockdown Thread

[Ginger Beer]

There is alot of factors involved in the pricing of vaccines, but it doesn't look like they are charging big dollars

Flu vacc in AU is around $20

https://www.biospace.com/article/co...strazeneca-oxford-j-and-j-russia-s-sputnik-v/

https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/programs/vfc/awardees/vaccine-management/price-list/index.html

I'm certain that people have no idea of the cost of R&D testing and the specialist, and blindingly expensive, equipment and facilities that are used

Meanwhile, these pharmaceutical companies are doing R&D testing with their specialist, and blindingly expensive, equipment and facilities for every other disease and aliment know to man that "may" cure cancer, or the next virus that is just around the corner

Yes they make a profit, but that's business, if they didn't do what they do there would be alot of dead kids and adults

https://www.health.gov.au/health-to...ion-throughout-life/immunisation-for-children

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&sou...FjABegQIGBAC&usg=AOvVaw11HyBxIcZgKyXHD43XFnXx

 

[Immortality]

There is alot of factors involved in the pricing of vaccines, but it doesn't look like they are charging big dollars

Flu vacc in AU is around $20

https://www.biospace.com/article/co...strazeneca-oxford-j-and-j-russia-s-sputnik-v/

https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/programs/vfc/awardees/vaccine-management/price-list/index.html

I'm certain that people have no idea of the cost of R&D testing and the specialist, and blindingly expensive, equipment and facilities that are used

Meanwhile, these pharmaceutical companies are doing R&D testing with their specialist, and blindingly expensive, equipment and facilities for every other disease and aliment know to man that "may" cure cancer, or the next virus that is just around the corner

Yes they make a profit, but that's business, if they didn't do what they do there would be alot of dead kids and adults

https://www.health.gov.au/health-to...ion-throughout-life/immunisation-for-children

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&sou...FjABegQIGBAC&usg=AOvVaw11HyBxIcZgKyXHD43XFnXx

Big pharma make huge profits and the US works hard to protect it, look at what the US was trying to do with the Pacific free trade agreement that previous President pulled out off. They hate the NZ model with Pharmac who buys medicines on behalf of the government.

Big pharma doesn't like to create cures, only remedies that treat the symptoms. A cure is a one off, a remedy is a paying customer for life.

How 4 drug companies rapidly raised prices on life-saving drugs

A U.S.

www.latimes.com

Drug Goes From $13.50 a Tablet to $750, Overnight (Published 2015)

The price of the drug, called Daraprim, a standard of care for treating a life-threatening parasitic infection, went to $750 a tablet from $13.50.

www.nytimes.com

 

[07GTS]

the AZ is cheap because we can make it here, the now preferred PZ we have to buy from the US so its like 4x the cost i think

 

[Nitro_X]

Big Pharma does not have a good track record...

From the university of Woollongong - Fraud and the Pharmaceutical Industry

They offer courses in:​

Environmental & biological Sciences​

Health​

Medical Science​

Nursing​

snippet:
Drug companies have paid a total of $1.6 billion since 2001 to settle seven suits brought by whistle-blowers that accused them of marketing fraud and overbilling Medicare and Medicaid, according to a report released yesterday by an advocacy group.
More fines are in the offing, the Washington-based group, Taxpayers Against Fraud, said in its report.
---------------------------
Each of the seven cases was initiated by whistle-blowers and eventually joined by government lawyers. The defendants were AstraZeneca, Bayer, Dey, GlaxoSmithKline, Pfizer and TAP Pharmaceuticals. Drug Companies Settle 7 Suits for $1.6 Billion New York Times November 6, 2003

Note the two highlighted defendants of marketing fraud and overbilling.

Big Pharma....Fraud, Price fixing cartels and scandals.


From the US National Library of Medicine:

Fraud and misconduct in clinical research: A concern

Fraud and misconduct in clinical research: A concern

The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA)

The FCPA governs the majority of interactions between drug company representatives and foreign officials, especially in countries where healthcare is partially funded by the government.
Some of the interactions that often involve fraudulent transactions include:

• R & D of new products
• Clinical trials
• Seminars and conferences
• Hospital tenders
• Regulatory approvals
• Certifications
• Grants, donations, and fellowships
• Marketing
• Travel
• Hospitality
• Gifts

Common FCPA Issues in The Pharmaceutical Industry

When it comes to FCPA violations, the pharma industry has the largest number of repeat offenders.
Regulators focus on a variety of practices when investigating this type of cases, including:

• Inflated expense reports
• Inflated commissions
• Inflated fees paid to customs brokers
• Improper accounting and record keeping related to payments to doctors, hospitals, etc.
• “Excess discounts” to distributors (excess used to pay bribes)
• Payments to philanthropic organizations that benefit overseas government officials
• Luxurious travel, entertainment, meals, accommodation offered to foreign officials/decision-makers
• Cash/gift bonuses paid to purchasers
• Fees paid to intermediaries handling sales to a foreign government
• Lump sums paid to hospitals and other foreign buyers

Financial Fraud by Pharmaceutical Companies Leads to Multibillion-Dollar Sanctions and Multimillion-Dollar Whistleblower Awards

Our pharmaceutical industry specialists and whistleblower attorneys are actively engaged in fighting three common types of financial fraud in the pharmaceutical industry. These are: Foreign Corrupt Practices Act violations, Pay-for-delay anticompetitive schemes, and Medicaid Best Price fraud.

www.pharmaceuticalintegritycoalition.org

 

[Derekthetree]

The number of times I've seen reply posts that completely misrepresent someone else's comments

But "reply" directly copies what someone has said though....

Hard to misrepresent clearly written text

Obsfucating a discussion by claiming the other is trolling is east though. Keep avoiding, mate

 

[Ginger Beer]

Big Pharma does not have a good track record...

From the university of Woollongong - Fraud and the Pharmaceutical Industry

They offer courses in:​

Environmental & biological Sciences​

Health​

Medical Science​

Nursing​

snippet:
Drug companies have paid a total of $1.6 billion since 2001 to settle seven suits brought by whistle-blowers that accused them of marketing fraud and overbilling Medicare and Medicaid, according to a report released yesterday by an advocacy group.
More fines are in the offing, the Washington-based group, Taxpayers Against Fraud, said in its report.
---------------------------
Each of the seven cases was initiated by whistle-blowers and eventually joined by government lawyers. The defendants were AstraZeneca, Bayer, Dey, GlaxoSmithKline, Pfizer and TAP Pharmaceuticals. Drug Companies Settle 7 Suits for $1.6 Billion New York Times November 6, 2003

Note the two highlighted defendants of marketing fraud and overbilling.

Big Pharma....Fraud, Price fixing cartels and scandals.


From the US National Library of Medicine:

Fraud and misconduct in clinical research: A concern

http://[URL]https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3700330/

[/URL]

The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA)

The FCPA governs the majority of interactions between drug company representatives and foreign officials, especially in countries where healthcare is partially funded by the government.
Some of the interactions that often involve fraudulent transactions include:

• R & D of new products
• Clinical trials
• Seminars and conferences
• Hospital tenders
• Regulatory approvals
• Certifications
• Grants, donations, and fellowships
• Marketing
• Travel
• Hospitality
• Gifts

Common FCPA Issues in The Pharmaceutical Industry

When it comes to FCPA violations, the pharma industry has the largest number of repeat offenders.
Regulators focus on a variety of practices when investigating this type of cases, including:

• Inflated expense reports
• Inflated commissions
• Inflated fees paid to customs brokers
• Improper accounting and record keeping related to payments to doctors, hospitals, etc.
• “Excess discounts” to distributors (excess used to pay bribes)
• Payments to philanthropic organizations that benefit overseas government officials
• Luxurious travel, entertainment, meals, accommodation offered to foreign officials/decision-makers
• Cash/gift bonuses paid to purchasers
• Fees paid to intermediaries handling sales to a foreign government
• Lump sums paid to hospitals and other foreign buyers

http://[URL]https://www.pharmaceuti....org/financial-fraud-and-fcpa-whistleblowers/

[/URL]

Yes, there is corruption, but corruption is everywhere, that's for the laws to settle, and if they break the law they deserve everything they get

But where would we be without the big pharmaceutical companies?

What other options are there?

We live in a capitalistic world, there's money to be had, and people want it, like the vaccines

 

[hademall]

Yes, there is corruption, but corruption is everywhere, that's for the laws to settle, and if they break the law they deserve everything they get

But where would we be without the big pharmaceutical companies?

What other options are there?

We live in a capitalistic world, there's money to be had, and people want it, like the vaccines

Maybe the law is corrupt?

 

[Immortality]

The law only works if the laws finds about the offending. Many of the cases above required a whistleblower so that indicates the law isn't looking to hard.

 

[Nitro_X]

Yes, there is corruption, but corruption is everywhere, that's for the laws to settle, and if they break the law they deserve everything they get

But where would we be without the big pharmaceutical companies?

What other options are there?

We live in a capitalistic world, there's money to be had, and people want it, like the vaccines

While the list of laws, regulations and rules grows ever longer, corruption and misconduct in the private and public sectors, and by individuals, is expanding on a global scale like never before.

As It Was, As It Is, So Shall It Be For Ever More...
This is essentially your position.
You may as well not reply, go have a ginger beer and watch a movie.
ps. I love Bundaberg Ginger Beer and their Sarsaparilla.

 

[Skylarking]

I'm sure all of us would love to see how much our governments (or we the people) are paying per vaccine shot and what the costs/revenues are for big pharma too.

It’s been mentioned in the press but I can’t find the local article in my super quick Google.

Thie following has interesting price info

https://www.bmj.com/content/372/bmj.n281

and

https://observer.com/2020/11/covid19-vaccine-price-pfizer-moderna-astrazeneca-oxford/

but unfortunately no Australia/NZed centric price data.

Interestingly in other articles it’s been started that AZ vaccine is being sold for production cost during the pandemic (when does the pandemic ends?) meanwhile Pfizer has posted 2021 income of $45.9 billion and the CEO made $28M… It’s all silly money but at least

PS: typed the above a while ago and got sidetracked with other things and didn’t hit post reply but I’ll post it now.

PPS: in relation to comments since, will add that if anyone can bothered reading, there are many instances where old drugs were brought in for use within the USA to treat other ailments and the drug companies upped the price 1000% and in some cases 8000%. All under the guise of R&D and certification. Greed is well and truely alive in an industry that strives to find ways to extend their stranglehold on a market at the expense of pain and suffering of sick people. This is especially the case in the USA and Tne export of their model to the rest of the world…. Let’s and roads isn’t our only issue down under

The AZ COVID vaccine is the odd one out being sold at a manufacturing cost base during the pandemic.

As for laws, they do SFA to remedy the situation as the laws have been set up by the industry and the captured regulators. It’s become a legal way to milk what they can from health insurance industry and public purse under the guise of health care. Just look at the debacle that is the US opioid epidemic and the Sackler family trust and the plea bargain that allowed them keep the majority of their ill gotten gains… People dies and no one went to jail… Now the same business model that caused the US epidemic is bein* repeated in other countries