They need to get on the companies that make these drugs and let them know that shortages to keep prices up won't be tolerated.

Simple. If you can't keep up with demand, you lose your patent and all rights on the product.

You wouldn't be out on a limb, because it is true!

Another Scare tactic and before you know it, the cost of Pharmaceuticals will Skyrocket.

The Government has every bodies number now. Panic the People and they acquiesce to all of your demands.

Managing appropriately would be to much to ask. Everything becomes a crisis with poor management.

Tell the doctors and nurses to stop hoarding the medicines.

Eric-913730

They need to get on the companies that make these drugs and let them know that shortages to keep prices up won't be tolerated.

How about talking to your friendly trial lawyers that think pharmas are in business to put their kids through Yale and Harvard. One of the key shortages is chemo drugs, the ones that make you sick while killing cancer. Many have little money in them for the pharma and get dropped when some lawyer needs a new yacht and a patient didn't feel good after treatment.

Are you kidding? "tell the doctors and nurses to stop hoarding the medicines"? Do you have any idea what's it like to work in a hospital and not have the supplies and medications you need for your patients? Please tell me this is a joke answer, because anyone that works in direct patient care will tell you that your statement is ridiculous!

Eric-913730

They need to get on the companies that make these drugs and let them know that shortages to keep prices up won't be tolerated.

How arrogant. What if they came back & said that you not having $10K in savings for medical emergencies wouldn't be tolerated? Drug manufacturers sell drugs. It's not an assembly line like making iPhones. It takes time and lots of money. How about you just start growing enough corn to feed all the homeless and have it done by tomorrow?

Someone will have to explain to me why our Former President made it Illegal for Hospitals to purchase Medications from out of country suppliers...

If it's a choice between not having the drugs, vs. less potent, less safe less regulated drugs... I'll take the less potent less safe less regulated drugs , if they have even an inkling of a chance to save my life than no drugs at all.

So why was it a good idea to make it illegal for Hospitals to purchase out of country drugs?

I bet not one elected republican or democrat at local, state or national levels has a problem finding or receiving their medications to better their lives. Our former President did not want US citizens spending their hard earned money in Canada or any other country for less expensive drugs. Oh Well....

Why should they produce so much to sell for little. Just like farm produced products they should produce little and sell for more. Economist ...say

The Imperial - You do realize U.S. pharmaceutical companies are the most profitable corporations on the face of the planet, right? And you believe they shouldn't give even one iota of that profit back to make sure their customers can get the drugs they need to save their lives?

Well there you have it - the GOP philosophy in a nutshell.

Do they have a genuine concern to the patients their drugs will be administered to, or is their genuine concern $$$?

Why get into the business if your only concern is $$$?

Health care shouldn't be about $$$.

If a chemist came out tomorrow and gave away the formula to these medications for $0.00 what would happen to that man?

Would he be herald as a savior ? or would he be slapped with Fines, Lawsuits, and Jailed for his heroic actions?

$$$$$$$ .... ..... ..... this isn't what this is suppose to be about... but :( it is.

All the while, big pharma CEO's are paying themselves like this:

1. Bill Weldon - J&J - $28.7M

2. Daniel Vasella - Novartis - $27M

3. Miles White - Abbott- $25.6M

4. Jeffrey Kindler - Pfizer- $24.7M

5. Richard Clark - Merck - $24.6M

6. Robert Coury - Mylan - $22.9M

7. Kevin Sharer - Amgen - $21.1M

8. James Mullen - Biogen Idec - $20M

9. John Lechleiter - Eli Lilly - $16.5M

10. John Martin - Gilead Sciences - $14.2M

That's over $225 million in drug money skimmed off just for the CEO's of these 10 companies.

You think a government-run system would be worse? The President of the United States made $400,000 last year.

O.O o my.... yup they make too much money.

And they can make that money because they only make the drugs that are cheap enough and in demand to return the profits their shareholders expect. This is why there are planty of treatments (Take two a day forever) and damned few cures (take 20 and stop).

Allen, how arrogant indeed!

Monopolies are supposed to be illegal. It prevents the free market from working.

Allen-468499

Drug manufacturers sell drugs. It's not an assembly line like making iPhones. It takes time and lots of money.

Then tell me why it is that, once the patent expires on a drug, and the recipe gets into the hands of the generic drug makers, what once cost $10 a pill a year ago can now be purchased at $50 for a 3-month supply!! And don't give me the same old argument that we're paying for "research and development", because that is covered, mostly, by government grants. The only thing left is the real crux of the problem....GREED!!

greed greed greed greed greed greed greed greed greed greed greed greed greed greed greed greed greed greed greed greed greed greed greed greed greed greed greed greed greed greed greed greed greed greed greed greed greed greed greed greed greed greed greed greed greed greed greed greed greed greed greed greed greed greed greed greed greed greed greed greed greed greed greed greed greed greed greed greed greed greed greed greed greed greed greed greed greed greed greed greed greed greed greed greed greed greed greed greed greed greed greed greed greed greed greed greed greed greed greed greed greed greed greed greed greed greed greed greed greed greed greed greed greed greed greed greed greed greed greed greed greed greed greed greed greed greed greed greed greed greed greed greed greed greed greed greed greed greed greed greed greed greed greed greed greed greed greed greed greed greed greed greed greed greed greed greed greed greed greed greed greed greed greed greed greed and more greed!!!

GREED!

Jeremiah-2094437

There's no verb, subject or predicate? Are you promoting greed or letting everyone know the effects of oxycontin?

Kidding!

RealAmericansFirst, and that doesn't include all the presidents, vice presidents and other upper-management people in the pharmaceutical industry who pull in salaries almost as hefty.

What the heck? Some else's post is deleted and so are mine and far too many other's that made significant topical contributions. Who deleted Truthseek and why?

Ridiculous! This kind of sweeping censorship, whether intentional or not, is wrong.

The Vine needs to work on that glitch.

JM - When the original poster of an individual thread of responses is banned (usually for repeated violations of the COH) all the subsequent responses attached to that disappear also. It's not a glitch.

Semantics. Not all threads that follow should be stricken. Glitch or deliberate...still wrong.

Yes, they've learned from the oil companies well.

I wish when an industry pulled this BS that the government would step in and nationalize the entire industry. Corporate scum.

nurse,

You must of forgot it was Obama receiving huge campaign donations from the health care industry. That's the reason a ridiculous health care bill was passed. He had to throw a bone back to his campaign buddies. In the process applying fines for not being able to afford insurance in the first place.

Sounds like you picked up the wrong playbook this morning.

As long as health care in this country is a commodity as opposed to a universal right, this is what we'll get.

The gubmints are wholly owned subsidiaries of business. County gubmints are owned by the developers and real estate folks. State and Federal are owned by the major corporations and industries. Voters are guilty of electing crooks and perverts. The Federal prisons all have elected officials in them. Illinois has 4 former govs in prison or just got out in the last few years. Senators and Congressman tweet pics of themselves to dozens of girls or toe tap in airport restrooms to attract a lover - but don't have time to read the bills they vote on. NO doubt our gubmint is getting more and more rotten. The questions is can we hang on long enough to fix it ? and How do we fix it ?

Common onedinkydow, you gotta be kidding me. That Health Care bill was nothing but a huge giveaway to insurance industry. Just what we need, privatized paper pushers.

Health care is not a universal right. We have people who choose to be obese, choose to smoke, and choose to be addicted to alcohol and drugs.

Why would you think health care should be a universal right? Health care is a personal responsibility, something Americans are quickly forgetting all about.

@Bobby Jones Bia

It wasn't Obama who created & passed the healthcare bill, it was Congress. Where did they get their campaign money.

I find it interesting that people refer to it as "Obamacare" when the bill as passed had nothing whatsoever to do with the original proposals, and was basically put together by Congress abount the best interests of the insurance and pharmaceutical corporations.

Obamacare, my a$$.

If you can't get the amount of money you want, just create shortages to boost profits!

Where's your proof of this statement?

Looks like they are taking a leaf from the TP/GOP playbook!

Ah, never mind. You're one of those voters who bases all "facts" on feeling enough hate for those who don't think like you do to just make crap up about them. This is all under Obama's watch in the Obamacare era. The Tea Party has NOTHING to do with this. Rampant lawsuits against drug manufacturers are one of the biggest costs and I'm willing to bet you'd sue for a million dollars in a heartbeat.

d7852 perhaps you should take your own advice and put the crackpipe down.

Your "big government" doesn't go out of it's way to benefit corporate America on it's own, they are persuaded by CORPORATE lobbyists. Politicians aren't blameless by any means (Republican or Democrat), but they are mostly mis-informed by corporate propaganda or bought off with campaign contributions. I'm not sure why you are attacking liberals on this point since they generally support universal healthcare, it seems your anger would be better directed at conservatives.

Bobby Jones, your comment is pitiful. Sure, some folks make bad choices and that's tough. But are you saying a sick child isn't entitled to healthcare? An elderly patient with dementia shouldn't be looked after. A cancer patient, sick through no fault of their own, shouldn't receive care? Think before you speak, for goodness sake. You better hope that when you become ill and require the care of a doctor or hospital, and you will, that they are there for you, the medicine you need is there for you, and that they all have a lot more compassion for their fellow human than you do.

d,... the reason the government and idiots call illegal drugs dope, is because the pharmaceutical cartels don't want competition. Marijuana has been used for medical purposes for thousands of years and in our country until 1937. Wake up and do some reading, before tossing out your hate filled ignorance here.

This is the "free market capitalism" that Egypt is now rethinking.

Bobby Jones Bia

Health care is not a universal right. We have people who choose to be obese, choose to smoke, and choose to be addicted to alcohol and drugs.

Why would you think health care should be a universal right? Health care is a personal responsibility, something Americans are quickly forgetting all about.

Let's talk about responsibility. Is it responsible to pollute the air, water, and food chain. All of these were done by our "corporate pals."

The rest of the G7 views healthcare as a basic human need and treats it as such. In a GOP cloud of filthy greed I see how the obvious becomes obscured to the metaphoric blind person, but, do tell me---is the need for healthcare "universal." The answer is yes. The "middle man" that the GOP covers the a$$ of is the insurance industry. Are you a lobbyists? I ask because I can't imagine a single person that would think that way unless they were a lobbyists, a Limbaughite, or having some severe mental defect.

The following are 50 U.S. health care statistics that will absolutely astonish you....

#1 What the United States spent on health care in 2009 was greater than the entire GDP of Great Britain.

#2 According to the Bureau of Economic Analysis, health care costs accounted for just 9.5% of all personal consumption back in 1980. Today they account for approximately 16.3%.

#3 The United States spent 2.47 trillion dollars on health care in 2009. It is being projected that the U.S. will spend 4.5 trillion dollars on health care in 2019.

#4 One study found that approximately 41 percent of working age Americans either have medical bill problems or are currently paying off medical debt.

#5 According to a report published in The American Journal of Medicine, medical bills are a major factor in more than 60 percent of the personal bankruptcies in the United States. Of those bankruptcies that were caused by medical bills, approximately 75 percent of them involved individuals that actually did have health insurance.

#6 Over the past decade, health insurance premiums have risen three times faster than wages have in the United States.

#7 The chairman of Aetna, the third largest health insurance company in the United States, brought in a staggering $68.7 million during 2010. Ron Williams exercised stock options that were worth approximately $50.3 million and he raked in an additional $18.4 million in wages and other forms of compensation. The funny thing is that he left the company and didn't even work the whole year.

#8 The top executives at the five largest for-profit health insurance companies in the United States combined to receive nearly $200 million in total compensation for 2009.

#9 Even as the rest of the country struggled with a deep recession, U.S. health insurance companies increased their profits by 56 percent during 2009 alone.

#10 According to a report by Health Care for America Now, America's five biggest for-profit health insurance companies ended 2009 with a combined profit of $12.2 billion.

#11 In the United States, health insurance administration expenses account for 8 percent of all health care costs. In Finland, that figure is just 2 percent.

#12 Health insurance rate increases are getting out of control. According to the Los Angeles Times, Blue Shield of California announced plans earlier this year to raise rates an average of 30% to 35%, and some individual policy holders were slated to see their health insurance premiums rise by up to 59 percent.

#13 According to an article on the Mother Jones website, health insurance premiums for small employers in the U.S. increased 180% between 1999 and 2009.

#14 Since 2003, health insurance companies have shelled out more than $42 million in state-level campaign contributions.

#15 There were more than two dozen pharmaceutical companies that made over a billion dollars in profits each during 2008.

#16 Each year, tens of billions of dollars is spent on pharmaceutical marketing in the United States alone.

#17 Prescription drugs cost about 50% more in the United States than they do in other countries.

#18 Nearly half of all Americans now use prescription drugs on a regular basis according to a CDC report that was recently released. According to the report, approximately one-third of all Americans use two or more pharmaceutical drugs, and more than ten percent of all Americans use five or more drugs on a regular basis.

#19 According to the CDC, approximately three quarters of a million people a year are rushed to emergency rooms in the United States because of adverse reactions to pharmaceutical drugs.

#20 The Food and Drug Administration reported 1,742 prescription drug recalls in 2009, which was a gigantic increase from 426 drug recalls in 2008.

#21 Children in the United States are three times more likely to be prescribed antidepressants than children in Europe are.

#22 The percentage of women taking antidepressants in America is higher than in any other country in the world.

#23 Lawyers are certainly doing their part to contribute to soaring health care costs. According to one recent study, the medical liability system in the United States added approximately $55.6 billion to the cost of health care in 2008.

#24 According to one doctor interviewed by Fox News, "a gunshot wound to the head, chest or abdomen" will cost $13,000 at his hospital the moment the victim comes in the door, and then there will be significant additional charges depending on how bad the wound is.

#25 Why are c-sections on the rise? It is because a vaginal delivery costs approximately $5,992, while a c-section costs approximately $8,558.

#26 According to the CIA World Factbook, the United States had a higher infant mortality rate than 45 other nations in 2009.

#27 The infant mortality rate in the United States is nearly three times as high as it is in Singapore.

#28 It is estimated that hospitals overcharge Americans by about 10 billion dollars every single year.

#29 In fact, one trained medical billing advocate says that over 90 percent of all the medical bills that she has audited contain "gross overcharges".

#30 It is not uncommon for insurance companies to get hospitals to knock their bills down by up to 95 percent, but if you are uninsured or you don't know how the system works then you are out of luck.

#31 Over the last decade, the number of Americans without health insurance has risen from about 38 million to about 52 million.

#32 People living in the United States are three times more likely to have diabetes than people living in the United Kingdom.

#33 Today, people living in Puerto Rico have a greater life expectancy than people living in the United States do.

#34 According to OECD statistics, Americans are twice as obese as Canadians are.

#35 Back in 1965, only one out of every 50 Americans was on Medicaid. Today, one out of every 6 Americans is on Medicaid.

#36 The U.S. government now says that the Medicare trust fund will run out five years faster than they were projecting just last year.

#37 It is being projected that the federal government will account for more than 50 percent of all health care spending in 2012.

#38 Greece has twice as many hospital beds per person as the United States does.

#39 The state of California now ranks dead last out of all 50 states in the number of emergency rooms per million people.

#40 According to one survey, approximately 1 out of every 4 Californians under the age of 65 has absolutely no health insurance.

#41 According to a PricewaterhouseCoopers report, "inefficient claims processing" costs the U.S. health care system 210 billion dollars every single year.

#42 Today, approximately 40% of all U.S. doctors are age 55 or older.

#43 According to the American Association of Medical Colleges, we were already going to be facing a shortage of more than 150,000 doctors over the next 15 years even before Obamacare was passed.

#44 An IBD/TIPP poll taken back in August 2009 found that 4 out of every 9 American doctors said that they "would consider leaving their practice or taking an early retirement" if Congress passed Obamacare.

#45 According to a survey published in the New England Journal of Medicine, approximately one-third of all practicing physicians in the United States indicated that they may leave the medical profession because of the new health care law.

#46 According to a Merritt Hawkins survey of 2,379 doctors that was conducted in August 2010, 40 percent of all U.S. doctors plan to "retire, seek a nonclinical job in health care, or seek a job or business unrelated to health care" at some point over the next three years.

#47 According to the executive director of Physician Hospitals of America, Obamacare has already forced the cancellation of at least 60 doctor-owned hospitals that were scheduled to open soon.

#48 According to a report released in 2010, Americans spend approximately twice as much as residents of other developed countries do on health care.

#49 If the U.S. health care system was a country, it would be the 6th largest economy in the entire world.

#50 According to numbers released by Deloitte Consulting, a whopping 875,000 Americans were "medical tourists" in 2010?

Oh yes Libs blame it on the "evil corperations" ...why look any deeper into this and just do what your leader does and blame it on Bush...

The fact is corperations are laying off folks....hello...have you seen the unemployment numbers this week. They are trying to make a buck like everone else and need to penny pinch in this economy. Plus with the threat of Obama care looming over corporations no one knows how that will affect them so they are not hiring......less workers + less work = less product.....it's simple math.

beanne

Oh yes Libs blame it on the "evil corperations" ...why look any deeper into this and just do what your leader does and blame it on Bush...

The fact is corperations are laying off folks....hello...have you seen the unemployment numbers this week. They are trying to make a buck like everone else and need to penny pinch in this economy. Plus with the threat of Obama care looming over corporations no one knows how that will affect them so they are not hiring......less workers + less work = less product.....it's simple math.

Simple English---the corporations moved the jobs to find slave labor wages abroad. Fewer jobs due to corporate whores moving them abroad = angry consumers that don't have the money to spend.

Libs?--nope-- Cons

You all act like hospitals just turn patients away. They don't there are big signs in any major hospital that say we can not refuse service for any reason. So tell me how health care is not already "universal" in America?

I have spent the last 2 months in the hospital and am paying for it with insurance and my own co-pay. I had a roommate that had no insurance and it will not cost him a dime for his stay.

The real idiots are people like me who do things the right way, while the free loaders of the world are getting a free pass. Same thing happened with all the deadbeats walking away from their homes. Don't worry all you bleeding hearts the poor already have it better than the middle class.

Corporations are not evil. They are inherently amoral. They exist to make money. Now the people that run them... that's a different story.

Note the shortages are only in low profit lifesaveing drugs. No shortage of Rogaine or Viagra.

Greed in the USA is totally out of control. US Corporations have bought our Congress and continue to manipulate the markets using email/text to effectively act as a 'monopoly'. Shortages are not market driven, they are Corporate driven to drive up profits.

We need a revolution in this country America IS NOT WORKING!!

We need to nationalize all health care, all pharmaceutical companies, all oil companies!

beanne - Anyone who thinks companies aren't hiring due to lack of money is deluded. Corporate profits are at their highest level in the history of this country, and they're sitting on over $1.8 TRILLION in cash. OUR cash.

See the Wall Street Journal article in MarketWatch:

The Federal Reserve on Friday reported that nonfinancial companies held $1.845 trillion in cash and short-term assets at the end of the second quarter, just a faction below a record $1.846 trillion in the first three months of the year. The first-quarter figure was the highest sum recorded since the central bank began record keeping in 1952.

My question to the Tea Party is: Are we really dumb enough to help them get the little we have left as well?

Bobby Jones Bia - I had a roommate that had no insurance and it will not cost him a dime for his stay.

You think so? I'm pretty sure your roommate will be hearing from the hospital's collection agents even before he feels better from his hospital stay. They'll put liens on his paycheck, house, car and anything else he owns for the next 10 years. His credit will be ruined, and then he won't be able to get a job, buy car insurance or even rent a place to live.

Sure, no problem you say. Only in America could this happen to you because you got sick. Are we REALLY the greatest nation on earth or just deluded by years of corporate propaganda?

Frankly the article said very little. So we know there is shortage with certain drugs, one I am very familiar with. But we don't know why.

I have worked for big Pharma. The industry pays very well, provides very good health insurance and a very good working place. Unfortunately it costs a lot of money to meet those standards and thus products are chosen that provide enough profits to pay for those fixed costs which are staggering. Corporations do not just decide to stop making a life saving drug as a whim. First of all, the government wouldn't allow that to happen.

If you spend a bit of time researching big Pharma you will find that industry has been contracting and laying off workers for some time. That trend will continue because many of those companies are no longer doing the research to bring on new drugs. It is the small bio-techs that are doing that leg work and it is very expensive and more often than not a failure to launch. So I am saying the topline isn't what it once was. Many patents have expired which is good for the price, but bad with regards to growing the topline.

I 100 percent agree the pay for CEOs in many industries has gotten way out of line. It is embarrassing.

Here is something to think about. Morgan Stanley, an investment bank wanting to go back to when firms gave advice to people, is finding that route very hard because there isn't much money coming in. So consequently their stock has hit hard times. But they are trying to get out of the risk business and put back some integrity into the industry, but they are not being rewarded. So how long do they keep trying to be good guys in a bad guy world? This is the same question with big Pharma. Low margins, low profits, does not get rewarded and nobody wants to work for a company that can't compete with the high flyers.

Think about this.

zflynn-

While I agree with much of what you list, a few of your points are a little misleading. For example, points # 44, 45, and 46 tend to blame HCR for doctors leaving their practices when 49% of PCPs said they would leave their practices if they could BEFORE HCR was proposed or passed. See here: http://www.physiciansfoundation.org/uploadedFiles/Press_Release_Nov08.pdf

So, basically nothing has changed. For myself and the other healthcare providers I know, HCR makes many things better for our patients, not worse, and I have no plans to leave the field anytime soon.

#47 refers to specialty hospitals that cater to the wealthy and heavily insured while leaving community hospitals to deal with the poor and those with lesser insurance. And it simply limits their ability to collect Medicare payments unless they were completed by the end of 2010. The ethics issues surrounding physicians owning a hospital are somewhat murky at best.

And btw, #45 referred to a survey reported in an ADVERTISEMENT in JAMA. If you go to the link, you can see the statement noting that JAMA had nothing to do with the survey.

zflynn: Great eye opener! Thanks.

You all act like hospitals just turn patients away. They don't there are big signs in any major hospital that say we can not refuse service for any reason.

Which country are you living in? Here in the United States the only thing that is required by any hospital is emergency care, and the requirement isn't to cure but to stabilize the patient. Some states define a concious patient as a stable patient, even though that may still mean a life-threatening condition exists.

As a matter of fact if you go to an emergency room for care and you are turned away, there is very little you can do to prove that you had an "emergency situation". Some hospitals are more concerned with providing healthcare and will be less likely to refuse patients for any reason, others are purely profit motivated, and look for any reason to dump "risky" patients on other area hospitals.

Doctors take a Hippocratic oath, something to the effect that even if they hate everything you stand for , they have an obligation to keep you breathing and on this planet provided you won't be any more miserable than you are or were...

with that said, Define emergency?

I stabbed myself in the leg and am bleeding all over the floor?

I have a severe cold that feels like the flu?

I punctured a lung with a 2x4 in a freak construction accident?

My child bumped his head is 1, 1/2 years old, isn't bleeding ,and I can't describe the force of the impact between dropping my hand from 2 inches over a table to slamming my hand on the table?

I have severe cancer have been diagnosed as being terminal but keep returning to the E.R. because I keep coughing up crap?

I just got shot?

If those are your only choices to choose from and can only choose 1 emergency .... I think that will illustrate the point.

Do hospitals turn patients away.. well.. sure if your there for something that doesn't warrant their immediate attention and don't have health insurance, but .... pull out that magic card and you can stay overnight and have 3 squares a day for something as insignificant as a raspy cough provided you can convince the e.r. doc, or admitting clerk to admit you (or whoever you know what i mean) ....

It's about money , you got it , you got it , you don't you don't.

Health care should be about a parallel between the two, but isn't.

make poor people as healthy as healthy wealthy people.

but today it's about keeping the rich healthy and letting the poor well, be poor. I'm not even sure if it hasn't always been that way .. you know.?

and i guarantee you he will finish the job he wants to finish so bad, destroy the country.

yep, the retreaded john birch nutcases known as the tea party are spewing their nonsense again.

Nixon was more "liberal" than Obama is. it's a truly sad state in this country when moderates are deemd "communists out to destroy the country"

clearly a case of radicals repeating the "big lie" over and over and saying that the only choice is "the communists or us" . an EXACT REPEAT of what happened in NAZI Germany. Koch bros, (grandpa Koch was one of the founding members of the demented john birch society despite getting his big break working for Stalin)are now using their billions to spread the "big lie" all over the nation.

Jeremiah I believe you have established a very valid point, the only care in "healthcare" anymore, is for money. As for the Hippocratic oath, there are many oaths and pledges that just don't seem to carry the same weight as they traditionally have.

I remember the GOP played the game, complete with polls. The poll promised that doctors would retire in groves if Health Care Reform passed. We have people totally willing to migrate to the US that are highly skilled. I hope we can ship those overpaid sloths somewhere and replace them with American trained doctors from Mexico. The medical doctors in India puts ours in the private sector to shame. My primary care provider at the VA bailed on Kaiser and took the VA position for several reasons. Kaiser wouldn't allow referral to specialists if they didn't have one in their group. He was required to see 6 @!$%#ing patients per hour and he admits that he was forced to under-treated.

That's already happening sandtrich. From what I have seen (just anecdotal evidence), most medical students are immigrants or foreign nationals. American kids seem to only be interested in being the next American Idol.

I don't get why we're experiencing drug shortages in a time when we can clone sheep and grow new human organs. Why aren't the drugs being manufactured? I'd like to see an article on that.

what "universal health care"?

how is it that every other country and drug company in the world can supply drugs to their citizens at a reasonable cost, but somehow OUR companies can't?

the U$A, the country of "cant do it unless you pay and pay and pay".

billionaires rule and fools think its great

"oh please charge me some more massah!", "I love being your servant massah!"

These drugs are in short supply because they don't generate much profit. People should concentrate on getting sick with conditions that require drugs with higher profit margins. However, there is so much supply of profitable drugs like those for erectile dysfunction that they have to advertise on television. Big pharma, your friendly corporate oligopoly.

It's a system designed by the rich and paid for by the rest.

Exactly why we need to know what herbs & homeopathic remedies work for which ailments....Exactly WHY the govt. wants to ban all of the things that God gave us to make us well...(like FDA is trying to do)

The drugs you need so badly were possible due to investments by the rich. Now you just want to take it away from them right along with their $$. Who's gonna cure cancer or anything else once you take the incentive away to invest?

Who's gonna cure cancer or anything else once you take the incentive away to invest?

It is a common misconception that big pharma is out to "cure" anything. When corporations are put in charge of research and developement the focus moves from cure to "manage". Most drugs on the market are for the symptoms of medical problems or to treat side effects of other drugs, after all if they "cure" you then you won't keep buying their products.

Maybe if Republicans believed in free trade enough to actually employ it and allow importing medications into the US, but Big Pharma would just finance their primary challengers with all the profits their monopoly allows.

The drugs you need so badly were possible due to investments by the rich. Now you just want to take it away from them right along with their $$. Who's gonna cure cancer or anything else once you take the incentive away to invest?

Absolute BS. Most drugs are researched in universities and the research is paid for by government grants. far more corporate money is spent on advertizing than on research..

The drugs you need so badly were possible due to investments by the rich. Now you just want to take it away from them right along with their $$

why not? those "poor, misunderstood rich people" aren't producing anyways, or are deliberately holding up supply solely to increase prices. this is known as market manipulation and only possible because those same rich that you are crying about have paid the government to create and enforce laws that ELIMINATE competition. and legislating against any competition is what the corrupt do, and goes absolutely against the entire concept of a free market.

now you have the super-wealthy (like the kochs)trying to convince the radical right that they are being picked on when they have created laws that protect ONLY those few super-rich and sacrifice the rest of the country.

They are. I saw one with more than one $20 bill once. At some point you've made enough $$.

i agree people should only be allowed to have 20 bucks on them at any one time. when thats gone, they should wait in line for the next one to be issued to them.

Not true, but keep spreading those lies.

That's complete nonsense; first, there is no such thing as "Obamacare". Secondly, healthcare reform requires everyone buy private insurance, providing greater profits for greater purchases. IF the healthcare reform were a single-payer plan - and it is not - it would have been possible to see a short-term faux shortage by suppliers in an attempt to increase profit margins prior to negotiating prices.

Well I'll give it to you on the first point . Obama doesn't care about anything other than reelection.

The worst possible solution would be a single payer system. We would all then be dependent on the govt. The govt has never run anything efficiently. We would have greater shortages and no innovation for new drugs. Remember the $300 wrench and $1200 toilet seat?? With single payer we would end up with the generic drugs that we have now which would become more expensive and then there would be shortages of those.

Yep. They think it's bad now, just wait. They haven't seen anything yet. Just my opinion.

Obama is trying to help people the ins co's screw over.

But the ins co's still spit in his face and the repukelicans thinks that FINE.

I am a widow and cannot get insurance, no one will SELL it to me, I have the money and can't BUY it. How's that for ya...oh, wait YOU DON'T CARE BECAUSE IT DOESN'T INVOLVE YOU....

So I own my own business, should I SELL it to WORK FOR SOMEONE FOR THEIR INSURANCE? Where is the American dream....I hate people like you

blackbelt3, yeah, that's why France's health care system is in the top 10 and the US rates 37th in the world. (rolls eyes).

Clem,

Everyone deals with problems. You have your own business and you say you have plenty of money. Quit crying and figure out your own problems. Your not the first or last person on earth that has problems to deal with.

Obama doesn't care about anything other than reelection.

And the Republications' only stated goal is to prevent this.

So it's a wash.

being president is a thankless job and no one could have straightened our mess out in 2 years, especially with fascist republicans obstructing any and all ideas, just to make sure that he doesn't get reelected..

Well, since you seem to be admitting that Bush and his demons created it, Obama has only had 3 years to fix it. Give him 8 years like bubba had to ruin it.

Why shouldn't a small business owner like her be allowed health insurance? Isn't her trying to get insured doing something about her problem?

Keep your head up your ass. It fits nicely there.

The Tbag-GOP plan!

Not true Sandie.. but, keep spreading those lies..

Mark,

You are entitled to your opinion as I am mine and yeah I'll keep spreading it. Why? Because I believe what I said IS true and because I can. Thanks for playing.

Paul

The day medicare no longer pays for life saving drugs will be a disasterous day for the poor and the elderly... indeed there WILL be no patients.. To take medicare or medicaid help for healthcare will be a dire day indeed.

you realize then of course only those who have the money to spends hundreds a month for medicine will be able to be well and have doctor care...hard to understand how anyone could want or tolerate a condition such as that.

Let's just hope the Liberal plan doesn't happen either. Than we will all be poor and waiting for government to tell us what to do next. Right Sandie?

America is becoming a dependant nation, it's enough to make me sick. We are professional cry babies and the Liberal party fuels the fire.

What happened to "ask not what your country can do for you"?

i think we need to get rid of all newspapers and all tv stations except for Fox,

So much for the Tea Party and the Constitution. Goodby, 1st Amendment?

writerfool-3737602

The day medicare no longer pays for life saving drugs will be a disasterous day for the poor and the elderly

but ObamaCare is only planning on gutting $500 billion out of Medicare. There should still be plenty for aspirin to treat serious illness.

Sandie-644591

The Tbag-GOP plan!

True. Gutting $500 billion out of Medicare is not good. Problem is this is ObamaCare and the Democrats and it is way past a plan. Hopefully there will be enough left for drugs to treat your mental condition.

Sandie..."your opinion" is not based on nor backed with any facts.. Since you think it is a game...game over..

Mark, well what is the TBAG/GOP plan? the status quo, that's the plan?

What happened to "ask not what your country can do for you"?

Your violent ignorant FOX-fed culture blew the back of its head off.

Your violent ignorant Fox-fed culture blew the back of its head off.

False.

It's our Lazy I'm an American so I am Entitled to XYZ culture that blew the back of its head off.

The idea is still there, but no one, NO ONE has reached for it, nor enacted it for a very very very long time.... somewhere it turned from,

"Ask not what your country can do for you but what you can do for your country."

to...

"How much can I suck out of them before they notice that I'm not helping anything"... and I'm not talking about government.

I'm talking about the contractor who literally charged you double for the lumber that your back porch made with, I'm talking about the 15% tip that was mandatory for serving over 15 people in any given restaurant (honestly it was good food but the waitress did diddly squat, I'd have much rather given that gratuity tip to the cooks!!)... I'm talking about the additional 10% charge on my phone bill for maintenance on an antiquated phone system for upgrades..... (yes upgrades are good but where were the upgrades and maintenance on the system for the last 50 years that they were supplying their services with?

I'm talking about the overhead charges on the gas prices for natural gas to peoples homes, that is being delivered in 50 year old pipes... where is the services for these charges? ... (the major gas explosion just recently)

O that's right , they take my money from my area and apply it to the major metropolitan areas first, while me in bumb cluck hick ville still is using dial up....

THAT is what happened to "ask not what your country can do for you" ...

we got lazy and greedy and found an easier way to make the money that our parents HAD to WORK for....

o ... and GREEEEEED!!! :D

"ObamaCare is only planning on gutting $500 billion out of Medicare"

False. See here: http://www.factcheck.org/2010/10/health-care-spin-again/

@Mark_DW,

You are so ignorant by every definition of the word that I do not have time or desire to respond to you. There are numerous facts that represent my viewpoint though. Guess you did not read about the cons latest attempt to subvert the election in Wisconsin. Too bad for the cons, it didn't work! Wallow in your ignorance with your fellow tbags and cons. Again, my opinion. Now go finish reading this month's Hustler, you know, something you can actually understand with its pictures and all, and let the adults finish our conversation.

LIBTARDS!! This is how the market responds to Government Controls. Companies will not/cannot produce products (in this case drug companies and drugs) where government price controls mandate they lose money. This is only the beginning of the impact of Obamacare!!! Wait until doctors leave the field for the same reason (government controls on healthcare salaries) and hospitals begin to close (government controls on "profit margins") and it will be too late to reverse the trend.

Are they realllllllly losing money though? I think if you had any analyst look at it, they will find the profit margin to still be acceptable, AND profitable, just not "AS" profitable as they would like it.

Tylenol has been pumping out Tylenol for years, and I don't know for certain but I speculate like any other large cooperation they do private labels, for maybe Safeway or Walmart, and those drugs are purchased at volume from Tylenol and walmart is still able to sell the exact same product with a diffrent label on it... cheaper. Now i don't know if that in fact happens with tylonol specifically but i do know it happens.

How much profit should be regulated, there is no excuse for a 900% profit margin on any Medication.

bc926, you mean like the pregnancy treatment that pharmacies have been mixing up for years, and suddenly one of those big pharma companies turns a $20 treatment into a $1500 dollar treatment with the EXACT SAME DRUGS?

and also, the big pharma company gets the rules changed so the pahrmacies can't mix their own anymore, eliminating all competition.

so how is THAT "free market"?

How come you're excluding yourself onedinkydow?

Who do you think pays for it now? Everything has a price, everything is related, everything has consequences.

• eliminate regulation on polluters, you get sick, your medical expenses go up. Who pays for it? You.
• eliminate public education, your kids will now need to go to private school. Who pays for it? You.
• eliminate social security, you get old, you get no help from anyone and you have to make ends meet. Who pays for it? You.
• eliminate medicare, you get sick, you get no break on medical costs, who pays for it? You.

Then again, you only watch Fox news. Your concept of reality is nil.

We are paying for their tax breaks now idiot! Quit blaming everything on Obama and start blaming your useless no compromise dirtbags in congress. Oh, and Rupert your God says hi!

Rick-881466

It's greed. The insurance companies want higher profits so they declare they will play less. The Pharmaceutical companies want higher profits so they create a shortage creating higher demand for fewer supplies allowing them to demand higher prices.

So which is it? The greedy insurance companies paying less, the greedy pharmas charging more, no standards on these boards allowing idiots to post?

where are these death panels that FOX news was so happy to talk about ?

fact is FOX is the one misleading their viewers, not the liberal media !!!!!

"the death panels are there right along with a special army that this health care has authorized."

Stop with the misinformation! There are NO death panels. http://www.factcheck.org/2009/08/palin-vs-obama-death-panels/ There is no special army. http://www.factcheck.org/2010/04/obamas-private-army/

"Ready Reserve Corps. lists in detail the commissioned Regular Corps and Ready Reserve Corps that will be trained up, fired up, lined up and controlled by Obama himself. Naturally the purpose for this army is to stand by in case they are needed at short notice for a national health emergency or emergency response missions."

It's a reserve of healthcare professionals (of which I am one) to go to the sites of national disasters or in case of a national pandemic. There's NO army coming to kick down your door. Honestly, that's just ridiculous. Laurie Roth doesn't know what she's talking about.

Paul Krugman (Nobel Prize winner in Economics ) did NOT say there were 'death panels.' I don't care how many Fox entertainers say so. He said that an advisory board could withhold payment for ineffective and expensive treatments thus saving money. See here: http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2010/03/roundtable-health-care-reform-mccain-and-palin-reunion.html at the video beginning at 4:15 - 4:45 for his exact words. You do realize that insurance companies do this now, right? And the reasoning is to improve their bottom line.

"I guess you can believe what you want to believe"

No, I'll believe what I have credible proof of; I'll leave believing chain emails and right-wing radio jockeys to you.

" I would much rather consider him my enemy, and let him prove to me otherwise."

Well, that just says it all, doesn't it?

"i challange you to tell me what this man has done and is doing to bring this country together and make it stronger..."

Why would I bother after seeing your comment above and noting that you have consistently disregarded every other piece of evidence I have provided? What would make me think you would pay a bit of attention?

http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/promises/obameter/rulings/promise-kept/

So Obama will not run on his record but will instruct the media

ROFLMAO, these right-wing zealots really don't get it!

the media would be all over the pres if he "instructed" them to do anything.

sorry dan, I think.

Probably not. More a consideration of profit!

how is the federal government "squeezing" drug makers?

It is the middle class and the poor who are being squeezed!

onedinkydow, you wake up moron

Class warfare.... Right. According to Warren Buffett: "There’s class warfare, all right, but it’s my class, the rich class, that’s making war, and we’re winning."

"Well, should we all join you and join the happy welfare club?"

Seriously, I disagree with you = I'm on welfare? Seriously??? Grow up.

Rob,

Duh, yeah.

The greedy capitalists are in business to make money. Take away the profit and why should they take a chance. Make it profitable and they'll be there every time.

RJW,

The government sets payment schedules for Medicare and Medicaid. You might notice that that they set payment schedules for doctors, too. That's why it is getting increasingly hard for medicare and medicaid patients to find doctors who will see them.

That could actually be profitable, or at least revenue neutral... if the career politicians don't ruin it off course.

hahaha, we all know that corporate interests are the same as the peoples interests.

we all know that corporate interests are the same as the peoples interests

Of course they are. After all corporations are people now, per the SCOTUS.

communism huh, wow, you are beyond help

Ignore dink. Just a troll.

he's just a troll.

clem238

Mark, you are blind and mean
Obama is trying to help people the ins co's screw over.

Further evidence of a severe shortage of mental health drugs.

DrBoogie

What in Hell is going on in this country? Obama is at trying but even his party won't get behind him

Yet another example of the severe shortage of mental health drugs.

Nibor, you seem to be the poster child for a shortage of mental health drugs.

It would appear that they can just copy and post the same sentence for every reply.

people don't get it until something like this hits close to home.

I am very sorry for your current situation !!

The politicians are either bought out by the corporations or they're too busy fighting for control to get anything done.

I took my degrees in Business and learned that the government was supposed to regulate industries and keep them in line because "a corporation is a soulless entity whose only purpose is to make money."

I think your business school as somewhat wrong in that statement (At least it's a little bit broad.) and they forget to mention that "the government is a soulless entity who's only purposes are to give a lot of power to a very few and keep the rest of the population in line while they do it.". About the only time the government today is interested in helping anyone is when it brings them under tighter control of the government.

I'm fed up by people like you! Get a job! I would love one. I will also let you know that I had a great job as a civilian contractor for the government, but then the contract was canceled and everyone one of us lost our jobs and our health insurance. Two months later I had a heart attack (it's genetic, I inherited from my Dad's side of the family). I had to go on State Medicare or I'd be homeless now trying to pay the bills. 4 months later I had a second heart attack. 8 months later I had an emergency hernia operation (I didn't even know I had a hernia because I couldn't get in to see a doctor and almost died from it). Then 4 month's after that I was diagnosed with a condition in my leg that makes it VERY painful to stand for long periods of time and to walk (I have to use a cane most of the time). Get a job, I would love one but who would hire me with all these health problems and I'm only 49 years old! So do us all a favor and shut up unless you live the life of those that need this help!

How is drug testing someone going to stop Big Pharma from charging the government $1060.00 for a 60 count script of Oxycontin if the patient can't afford it?

They jack up the cost when they hear Uncle Sam is footing the bill.

I pay under $225.00 for the same script count for mine, and from the same company no less.

This has nothing to do with the poor. It has everything to do with pharmaceutical companies having a license to bleed America dry through prescriptions.

Your proposal to only allow one location to dispense actually jacks up the costs even more by allowing a monopoly on the distribution of prescriptions. So now, low income people can afford it even less. All drug testing will do, is mainly catch cannabis smokers. Crack and cocaine are out of your system in days, not months.

Patrick: Good points.

Sorry to hear about your string of health problems.

Ah...are you suggesting a portion of the drug industry be nationalized, because there are drugs available that people need, but aren't worth producing because of the quantities?

Wow...I'll have to think about that one, but it might work.

I thought Medicare Part D prohibited Medicare from negotiating drug prices?

Medicine is MEDICAL...and should be held to the same criteria as a DOCTOR...focus on the health, well being and quality of life of the patient...not how wealthy you can get while people freaking DIE...

7 billion humans and limited resources, the cost of comfort is bound to escalate.

NO Drug companies start because someone has a genuine interest in promoting some positive outcomes to someones ailments, and then, some twisted s.o.b. seen that there was a need for that someones time investment and figured some grand scheme to make it appear that the time and energy spent developing the items in question was worth more than it really was.

Because Caring about people isn't worth a gosh darn thing if it never makes it to the people, the first man, the first guy to invent drugs didn't do it to sell, he did it to fix people.

Until that guy comes back and kicks the greed mongering people out of his business you'll have the Pharmaceutical companies that are saying there is a shortfall due to lack of back log orders and it's not cost effective make an overstock of life saving medicines.

Lovely that we live in a world where your health only matters if it can make someone a profit....

Dr. Matt,

If there is really a loss on the manufacture of generics, there is another solution besides government action - the manufacturer's can raise the price to cover their costs, plus a reasonable return on investment. If the drugs are really in short supply, there is room for price improvement.

and how much are these drug spending running endless commercials on the TV that do no one any good ??

government run healthcare huh?

brought to you by FOX news

Biggest lie of 2010: 'Government takeover of health care'

For the second straight year, the health care overhaul inspired the biggest political lie, according to the independent fact-checking Web site Politifact.

Last year, it was Sarah Palin's claim that there were "death panels" in the bill. The winner this year, is the term "government takeover" used by multiple Republicans, including incoming Speaker John Boehner.

Politifact:

In the spring of 2009, a Republican strategist settled on a brilliant and powerful attack line for President Barack Obama's ambitious plan to overhaul America's health insurance system. Frank Luntz, a consultant famous for his phraseology, urged GOP leaders to call it a "government takeover." ...

The line stuck. By the time the health care bill was headed toward passage in early 2010, Obama and congressional Democrats had sanded down their program, dropping the "public option" concept that was derided as too much government intrusion. The law passed in March, with new regulations, but no government-run plan.

But as Republicans smelled serious opportunity in the midterm elections, they didn't let facts get in the way of a great punchline. ... uttered by dozens of politicians and pundits, it played an important role in shaping public opinion about the health care plan and was a significant factor in the Democrats' shellacking in the November elections.

Are you mad!?

Medicare IS GOVERNMENT HEALTHCARE

Medicaid IS GOVERNMENT HEALTHCARE

V.A. IS GOVERNMENT HEALTHCARE

take any one of those away and you have a very very very very needy clientele with very very very little resources.

We need MORE GOVERNMENT in healthcare.

We need Regulation from top to bottom. From Insurers to Band Aid Manufactures. the loose rules of regulation lead to the Sanitary wipes infections, the lack of Regulation is leading to the "Drug Shortfall Crisis" that we're talking about, the lack of Regulation over these Companies not restricting or promoting the abundance of specific medications is the very reason we're here bickering about this.

Insurers are able to write insane policies that make absolutely no logical sense, for the amount of money the majority of the people are paying for them but they're able to do it and sell them and ONLY them because there is no Regulation to their practice.

There are rules about doctors having to do everything within Their power to save your life, but... the insurers aren't held to that same standard or rule...

kind of twisted yeah?

@banker-boy and Jeremiah,

You cannot make sense to those who have none. We'll just have to out vote them and keep out voting them, electing those whose interests don't end at the reflection in a mirror.

"pushing for drugs being listed as having severe side affects so that Medicare/Medicaid can no longer pay for them"

I guess the fact that they have severe side effects is beside the point?

Germany has had private, non-profit health care insurers for around 150 years. Seems to work OK...and Germany understands "profit" and run trade surpluses that help off-set the costs of their social programs.

STONED 6!!!

You want to retract that statement? Germany has had this program for 150 years? In the 1930s and 40s they had Obamacare.!

Maybe you can explain. I am not aware that their health care system changed under Hitler? And, it basically began under Bismark in the late 1800's.

Profits are not the problem, TOOO MUCH profits are.

Out right Greed is the problem.

I don't have a link or anything like that, but I read a report recently that the top 4 insurers of this country make more money than the rest of the industry combine, that to me says alot.

What exactly are those companies doing with these vast reserves of money that they're stockpiling off of denied services?

Are they Donating to medical reserch? Donating to Medication assistance programs? Where does the money go that they are not paying? Who's pocket does it go into and what are they doing with it?

This should be illegal .... once upon a time I think it was, ... it's called STEALING.

right?

Interesting...sort of fits with my theory of an inefficient health care insurance market.

Sure. Let everybody have the healthcare they can afford. Otherwise, let 'em die.