The Fallacy Of The Pharmaceutical Conspiracy

I'm a born-again Christian--one of those real ones who takes God's Word as it was breathed and I refuse to compromise it, water it down to suit a sick world. I'm a conservative and I have more than enough proof that the foundation of our country--which relied heavily on Judeo-Christian values and forefathers' firm belief that without God's involvement all this is folly--and it's unprecedented success is owed largely to core values that have since fallen by the wayside due to the infection known as liberalism. I am firmly a capitalist, but I am unwaivering in the conviction that pure capitalism absent of God is dangerous. I am not a Republican...the Republican Party has long been lacking the moral integrity to stick to the principles upon which it consistently -- if only ceremonially -- hoisted itself upon each convention. You would most likely count me as a "TEA Partier", but reducing what we stand for to a "third party" diminishes what it's about and doesn't really describe the movement.

So, it's with mixed feelings that I take on the growing number of drug company bashers out there. I lay almost all the blame on this dramatic rise in anti-pharmaceutical angst squarely on those who support the disgustingly horrible legislation known as health care reform.

Here's the perception, largely: Drug companies are creating more ways every day to induce people to less-than-wellness or keep them unhealthy because it makes them money. Truly healthy people don't need their product. Often cited are the nearly comical parades of "possible side effects" of taking their drugs, among other things, as evidence of the companies' ill will. Also often cited are all the issues surrounding "generic" versions as opposed to the branded versions. Last, but not least, is the perception that doctors are tied inexorably to partnerships with particular drug companies.

Are you thinking I'm convinced that there isn't some truth to the above? You'd be wrong if you do. First, let me remind of a couple of important things. The single most driving reason any business exists is to make money, to perpetuate itself. This is why, in the accounting circles, this is called an "ongoing concern". This includes doctors just as much as it includes drug companies. The other important thing is that health care is not a right -- it's a product/service. If I actually have to draw you a picture of why it is deplorable for you to treat it otherwise, then I'm afraid you are too far gone and you'd be a waste of my time. So, having said all this, I can promise you that the sinful nature of mankind will usually err on the side of greed and self-preservation.

However, the fact of the matter is we have an ironic catch-22 going. And a costly side-effect is that we have cascading unintended consequences of someone peeing their pants and now everyone has to wear diapers. If you don't understand the capital costs and the HUGE risk in developing a new drug, then you're incapable of coherent thought. Where do these drugs come from? Where do the ideas for them come? They come from an expressed need in the public sector. Sometimes it's the doctors who, in trying to treat some condition, share the need for a device or drug to deal with something. Sometimes it's the patient/consumer expressing that a current set of available treatment options is lacking in an area. And, yes, sometimes it's the awareness by a doctor, a drug company or a medical device company, of a priority need to address a disease or condition. And herein lies a problem. The effort to produce a drug or device is a risk and it costs money develop and test it. Government regulations can have a positive or negative effect on this process. Ultimately, this cost has to be recouped. And how does a business do this? Two ways: Increase unit price or volume.

Do doctors misdiagnose people and end up prescribing drugs, tests or procedures unnecessarily? Sometimes. Sadly, it's more often than not regulatory pressure and fear of lawsuits that cause this. Are we hypochondriacs? More than you think. I have had many conversations with people who insisted that they be treated for this condition or that, or that every possible test or treatment be used to make them well.

Unfortunately, drugs are what they are. Treatments are what they are. There is rarely a silver bullet. And ever more rare is the drug or procedure that doesn't have sides effects that could be worse than the condition they were meant to treat. But we humans are desperate creatures (more so when we have no real relationship with Christ) and we'll "take our chances" if there's a possibility that this drug or that procedure would help us. Also, we have allowed -- demanded -- that our government "take care of us". We've lost our innate ability to fight off a number of diseases & conditions because government has systematically "sanitized" us. So, we end up with a need to take one drug to counter the negative effects of another. We increase our daily reliance on various drugs -- not to fix us, but maintain a quality of life. This generationally makes us even weaker. Look at diabetes. The number one driver for the increase in diabetes is weight. Do I need to list how we've caused that problem? Yet rather than get off our lazy butts and exercise and change our eating habits, we dive into various drugs, surgeries, etc.

The fact is that overwhelmingly drug and medical device companies have saved or improved lives through their efforts. They have every right to be compensated for their work. And a company stands to make much more money if their products actually work than if they assign someone to an untimely death. If a treatment is known to not work, how long would it be before people stop using it? Not long. And certainly the cost of damaged reputation makes it also unlikely. Ultimately -- and this is what the general public doesn't get -- the very same disease or condition in one person may have a wildly different cause and, therefore, a very different treatment in another person. It is ignorant and foolish of anyone to say, "well, taking that drug cured my aunt Valerie and she had the same thing!" and assume it would work for you. It might even kill you. To ascribe the hideous agenda of hiding cures to corporations assumes that all the doctors, who are sworn to an oath, are complicit. And that assumption is simply insane.