40 Comments
Sep 20, 2023Liked by Jim Hightower

This being the case, shouldn't "we taxpayers" hold the patents?

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US is NOT the only people who make drugs!!!!!!!!!!

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Sep 20, 2023Liked by Jim Hightower

Ok folks...I got it...but I am one of those senior citizen who are depending on those overpriced medications to keep me healthy if not alive. I need to believe that we have some recourse...that the day won’t come when I have to choose between food (prices going out of sight as we speak) and my life improving or even saving meds. I am a very lucky lady and have the ability and time to do research and find those programs which help pay for my meds. What about the average Joe who doesn’t have the resources to do that kind of discovery process. We are the victims of the greedy corporations both pharmaceutical and food who cannot see, or don’t give a damn, how they are affecting the lives of the very people who keep them in business.

Now we know the problem...what are we going to do about it! That is the question!

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Have you got a suggestion? We are not victims of greedy corporations. We are

victims of a corrupt political system that allows goughing to occur unfettered. That's why

people need to shut up about Joe Biden's age and praise his efforts on drug pricing. Weakening him as a candidate for reelection will only clear the way for Trump or one of his psycophants to make total mincemeat of progress on drug pricing and end any hope for relief for this and future generations.

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I agree but I believe the corruption is the result of the government and the greedy corporations. It is a catch twenty two.

The government is allowing the corporations to make huge profits and the corporations are using the PACs okayed by government to fund the the campaigns of those lawmakers they can buy.

What to do about it? There are several large funds and smaller ones too trying to force government to do their job and control the funding going to lawmakers being bought off by PAC money.

There is a website which follows the money who it’s going to, How much is being donated and by whom. Supporting these efforts is a beginning.

Communication with your lawmakers and advising them that you are very much aware of

Their voting record dictated by the money they are receiving from the PACs.

Searching for candidates who are bipartisan and are making an effort to improve the situation in government. Unfortunately all three

Divisions of power are now exposed as corrupt

And the checks and balances not working.

How about you. Do you have any suggested solutions?

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Sep 20, 2023Liked by Jim Hightower

You are absolutely correct in every respect. Americans pay twice: for R&D, then, again with the industry's smirking Pharma Bro shtick. Martin Shkreli raised one medication from $13.50/pill to $750/pill. When I did a paper a few years back about the cost of making drugs and other issues, I learned that Americans paid 65% of drug costs worldwide but use only 21% of RX medications. Professor Michael Hudson's book Killing the Host is about corporate parasitism which is the only way to describe what plutocratic oligarchs and corporatists have done to Americans. They suck the blood out of us only ours is green.

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This argument is one I've heard for well over half a century. In addition to the factors mentioned above, how is it that other industrialized nation purchase the same drugs from the same companies for far less than we pay in the U. S.? The ability to get negotiated drug purchases for less is demonstrable. Medicare and the VA are major customers and should be able to get major reductions in price.

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IF it is an European drug (which we make plenty) why is the US paying 100% more?

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I really wonder if it's even possible to untangle the corporate/government mutual admiration system they have created. I feel like the country is quickly disappearing and that we the people need to wake up and realize we better vote together and stop this take over of the system. Soon it will be impossible.

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You can vote all you want............nothing will change.

You have a system of corruption by big money that has gone too far.

Why....................?

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Pity the poor drug lords. They even have to spend some of their hard-earned money on ads in which they attack regulations and ask you, the viewer (aka taxpayer) to tell your representatives to stop these attempts to hold them accountable - so they can continue with their "research" and save your lives. This country is obviously not one nation under God. More like a divided nation under the dollar sign.

In a college course on the classics, a long time ago, my professor drew some parallels between the U.S. and the Roman Empire. There were quite a few, but the one that sticks in my mind is a historian's account from the first century A.D. about a foreign prince visiting Imperial Rome and commenting afterwards: "In this city, everything is for sale." Apparently, nothing much has changed since the reign of the emperor Tiberius, and we can only hope that we will not see the reign of the emperor Donald. Raise your voice (and vote!!) if you agree.

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NO different with Biden.

3yrs Biden has been President...why is everything the same and PLEASE don't tell me this is because of Congress!

The fact is you have a corrupt system: Repubs. AND Dems.

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True! But we can probably agree that there are degrees of corruption. Giving a shout-out to our 2 Georgia senators - they ARE doing the right thing and we are proud of them!

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the U S should recover their investment by having the drug companies pay a percentage of their sales

and or profits from each drug.

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With a system so rotten, we should all be joining forces to file a citizen's lawsuit against "Mother" gov. No wonder there is so much concerted effort to immerse us all in anything but the truth. There should be a department of disinformation but with all the linkage amongst the purveyors of this jumk who needs a department. The desperation of deception is palpable. The coordinated intensity of the barrage reveals the generators and purveyors know what they are doing but of course 'we the People" then have to be ALL wrong: misinformed/disinformed/malinformed. With the lying machine going full tilt we must support the truth tellers, alt media and our own intuition. Have a listen to Neil Oliver on the Magna Carta - inspiring, post the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (Zen Pencils have a nice illustrated version), & reconnect with the founders who anticipated this mess so many years ago. Also good to monitor school curricula for accurate and comprehensive presentation of our founding history. Common Sense by Thomas Paine provides the nuts and bolts of the true place of govt. Truth will out but not without a fight.

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Pure. Greed. Climate and Mother Earth are dying because of Pure. Greed. Hey, Greedies - you are creating your own karma. I believe our Higher Power is in charge and that we, who love our earth home may help heal her. We can do this. Let's work together to that end. Greed will not win. Peace.

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NIH and other government funded research results should be released and available to all so pharmaceuticals developed from them are generic from the start. Users of the research should pay a user royalty back to the research agency to reimburse them for the development costs.

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The truth is giving me a headache. Which of my investments would work the best??

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amen! This corporate profiteering is part of almost all of our health care insurance corporations. United Health Care being a prime example. Sen R Scott committed the largest health insurance care by manipulating the Medicare/Medicaid system as a CEO of a health care insurance corporation. Why he Mr Scoot not imprisoned, rather serving as a US Senator representing Florida?

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It is not just the "health"care system" or the Big ag Food system that is gouging us. It is the entire corporate world with their stock buybacks, low pay of workers in every corner of our economy. This is why WE MUST SUPPORT THE AUTO STRIKE. They are striking for ALL OF US. Coordinated boycotts and strikes is our greatest tool in challenging this system. Read about RICO charges being brought against protesters in Georgia. 1984 is arriving soon.

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Hello Jim.

Thanks for this.

I have a question?

Why not put a list of Drug Company's on your site which are NOT American?

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Just another inequality-preserving scam. Sigh!

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From agribusiness to pharmaceuticals, the laws of the land lavish corporate monopolies with subsidies from taxpayers. That's what all the lobbyists are for! There is no one watching out for the average guy. It doesn't matter which party is in power--it's all about the money and greed.

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Could you detail the process in the "robust pipeline" through which publicly financed research becomes Big Pharma's drugs and profits?

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