60 Minutes doing a segment on the Pharma industry

on now - w/Steve Croft.

ban Sicko...

I am FURIOUS about the state of health care in this country.

Zocor. $1400 compared to $127 per year.

:grr:

:puke:

Wow, I like his concept of what he owes. Because he "owes" something to someone, he should receive a $2 million a year job.

I owe things, could I get a $2 million a year job for the debt?

:shrug:

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/18/washington/18cnd-medicare.html?ex=1334548800&en=be51356f4e1529ba&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

Funny how the Republicans block everything when THEY are the minority, but Democrats claim to be powerless when they are the minority.

http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=110&session=1&vote=00132

The 55 for cloture consisted of all of the Democrats except Reid and Johnson (SD), six Rs, Sanders, and Lieberman.

Except for Majority Leader Reid(?!), all 42 against cloture were Republicans. The three nonvoters were Brownback (R-KS), Johnson (D-SD), and McCain (R-AZ).

Here is the parent link: http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/vote_menu_110_1.htm

"00132 18-Apr S. 3 On the Cloture Motion
Rejected
Motion to Invoke Cloture on the Motion to Proceed to the Consideration of S. 3; Medicare Prescription Drug Price Negotiation Act of 2007"

the leader often does that. Johnson was sick.

since that can be hard to explain to constituents.

that pisses me OFF!

:grr:

but it failed in the Senate. Basically, this bill was fillibustered by Republican drug company whores. Here's a roll call on the cloture vote:

http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=110&session=1&vote=00132

shameless fuckers

for him leaving to join the pharma lobby

that man is beneath disgusting :grr:

A tenth of a billion

Each year

To influence our elected reps.

Where does that money go?

I have no idea what you mean. :shrug:

sorry.

bribes to Congress members, at URL http://www.opensecrets.org/industries/indus.asp?Ind=H4300&cycle=2006

I can't post a link to anything unless there's a transcript of the 60 Minutes thing.

including not only Pharma but sectors that must buy from Pharma (such as HMOs).

OpenSecrets.org has the industry total at $99 million, excluding likely at least another 30 percent or so for soft money they haven't been able to track lately.

From http://www.opensecrets.org/industries/indus.asp?Ind=H&cycle=2006

Health: Long-Term Contribution Trends

2006* Election Cycle
$98,644,248 Total Contributions
$54,542,574 Contributions from Individuals
$44,101,674 Contributions from PACs
N/A Soft Money Contributions
$36,669,637 Donations to Democrats
$60,871,278 Donations to Republicans
37% % to Dems
62% % to Repubs

Let's not forget how many lunches they have for doctors and their staff and some special workshops for people who might purchase their product.

I just went to a really fancy Italian dinner at a new restaurant in Loveland, CO. We were fed a wonderful dinner and each received a fancy ergonomically shaped backpack filled with all sorts of drug propaganda. This couldn't have been too cheap. This one was sponsored by MS Pathways, who makes Betaseron, an MS disease modifying drug.

The last one that I went to was another dinner at the DENVER ZOO! Really swanky, with these cool animal plates and again a free meal- and admission to the zoo.

It really pains me to know how much this drug companies spend. I am grateful that I have decent insurance, being a union member (although my co-pay has gone up substantially).

Watching that segment all I could think of was how the old muckrakers used to fight those corporate thieves. Why are there no journalist today to do it ? We need an Upton Sinclair.

From "The Jungle" :

http://www.opensecrets.org/industries/recips.asp?Ind=H4300&cycle=2006

"Pharmaceutical Manufacturing:
Top 20 Recipients
Election cycle: 2006

Rank Candidate Office Amount

1 Ferguson, Mike (R-NJ) House $202,828
2 Lieberman, Joe (I-CT) Senate $191,040
3 Santorum, Rick (R-PA) Senate $185,450

4 Hatch, Orrin G (R-UT) Senate $168,100
5 Bonilla, Henry (R-TX) House $137,250
6 Johnson, Nancy L (R-CT) House $127,050

7 Hastert, Dennis (R-IL) House $124,000
8 Allen, George (R-VA) Senate $110,800
9 Menendez, Robert (D-NJ) Senate $108,543

10 Barton, Joe (R-TX) House $101,100
11 Kyl, Jon (R-AZ) Senate $96,850
12 Deal, Nathan (R-GA) House $94,085

13 DeWine, Mike (R-OH) Senate $93,800
14 Talent, James M (R-MO) Senate $92,000
15 Carper, Tom (D-DE) Senate $87,870

16 Nelson, Ben (D-NE) Senate $87,543
17 Kennedy, Mark (R-MN) Senate $80,250
18 Reynolds, Tom (R-NY) House $73,000

19 Ensign, John (R-NV) Senate $72,950
20 Simmons, Rob (R-CT) House $70,650"

I have to guess it's a rerun.

months ago. Looking forward to seeing it again. Better go set the DVR and cable box now so I don't forget.

Was hoping to see it again as I missed half of it last time around.

:toast: