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[Poetic.Injustice]

BRENT SAUNDERS, the chief executive of Allergan, one of the largest pharmaceutical firms in the world, is concerned that in an era of increasing political polarization, Americans will become fed up and embrace the single-payer health care plan set to be unveiled Wednesday by Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt.

He shared his candid thoughts last weekend at the Wells Fargo Healthcare Conference in Boston, a gathering for investors and major pharmaceutical and biotech firms.

Americans have lost trust in drug companies, Saunders said, noting the industry consistently ranks lower than oil and tobacco companies in public trust surveys.

“I think we’ve got to do things to bring that trust back,” the executive added, “because ultimately, someone’s going to be in the White House. Somebody’s going to be in Congress. Someone’s going to be somewhere and going to have to say, ‘Enough’s enough. Let’s just change the whole system. Let’s go to one payer. Let’s do something.'”

While single payer has been discarded as a fringe, far-left idea over recent generations, the policy proposal has gained new traction in the wake of the 2016 presidential election. Many in the Democratic Party are drifting to the ideas of Sanders and other progressives who have long advocated for expanding coverage by providing Medicare to all Americans.

But if Saunders is concerned that the public may get fed up with the current system, it may have something to do with how Allergan itself has acted in recent weeks. The CEO has been under fire for taking the unprecedented step of transferring the patent of one of Allergan’s blockbuster drugs, the eye medication Restasis, to a sovereign Native American tribe as part of a bid to maintain monopoly control of the drug and its revenue.

The highly unusual legal strategy is designed to keep generic drug firms from challenging the Restasis patent, thus lowering the cost to consumers, while keeping Allergan in effective control of the revenue through its deal with the Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe. The Restasis patent was approved 15 years ago and was set to expire in 2014, but the Allergan deal is part of an attempt to renew the patent and extend the company’s control of the drug through 2024.

https://theintercept.com/2017/09/13...and-embrace-bernie-sanders-single-payer-plan/

 

[DeaconKnowledge]

Haha, how dare the average consumer demand low cost high availability pharmaceuticals for common and chronic ailments!

 

[yuoke]

Of course they worry. Greedy scumbags.

 

[Deleted member 13876]

It's an anagram for Burnt E. Sanders...

 

[Razorskin]

Brent Saunders? Sounds like Bizarro World Bernie

 

[Dishwalla]

Imagine Americans fed up with being ripped off by big Pharma...

 

[Sad Affleck]

The horror.

 

[Widdle Puppy]

piece of shit

time to dismantle and redistribute the medical industrial complex to the people

 

[legacyzero]

Stay shook. Fucking scum

 

[JC Lately]

I wasn't sure about Bernie's proposal before, but if it's got Big Pharma sweating, he must be on the right track.

 

[Lunar15]

Americans have lost trust in drug companies, Saunders said, noting the industry consistently ranks lower than oil and tobacco companies in public trust surveys.

GEE I WONDER WHY

 

[NYR94]

My mom takes restasis. That's crazy.

 

[uncredited male]

“I think we’ve got to do things to bring that trust back,” the executive added

Maybe stop fucking the system over with obscene markups?

 

[Randolph Freelander]

Americans have lost trust in drug companies, Saunders said, noting the industry consistently ranks lower than oil and tobacco companies in public trust surveys.

Well that just seems absurd, big pharma companies could never do anything to jeopardize their standing with the average...

But if Saunders is concerned that the public may get fed up with the current system, it may have something to do with how Allergan itself has acted in recent weeks. The CEO has been under fire for taking the unprecedented step of transferring the patent of one of Allergan’s blockbuster drugs, the eye medication Restasis, to a sovereign Native American tribe as part of a bid to maintain monopoly control of the drug and its revenue.

The highly unusual legal strategy is designed to keep generic drug firms from challenging the Restasis patent, thus lowering the cost to consumers, while keeping Allergan in effective control of the revenue through its deal with the Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe. The Restasis patent was approved 15 years ago and was set to expire in 2014, but the Allergan deal is part of an attempt to renew the patent and extend the company’s control of the drug through 2024.

Nevermind.

 

[entremet]

I was on Quora recently and saw this thread:

https://www.quora.com/Why-arent-Germans-patriotic

This particular post got me thinking.

Germans ARE patriotic.

In America you show patriotism by attaching a full size US flag on your pickup truck (Or confederate flag for alternative patriotism), singing the anthem before every baseball game, and sending 18 year olds to Iraq so you can later thank them for their service when they roll by you in their wheelchair in Walmart.

In Germany we show patriotism by voting for higher taxes on ourselves to make healthcare and college tuition universally accessible to our less fortunate fellow citizens, and by picking up after one another to keep public spaces clean and nice for everyone.

I guess it gets lost in translation.

I do think we're on the cusp of something here. This is where Trump's Presidency is a blessing in disguise. If progressive could redefine patriotism, I can see single payer happening.

 

[TyrantII]

Won't you please think of the shareholders value.

Let's talk about the real victims here guys and gals.

 

[shintoki]

I wasn't sure about Bernie's proposal before, but if it's got Big Pharma sweating, he must be on the right track.

Any step taking away power from them, will have them shitting bricks. UHC means their death.

 

[Vigilant Walrus]

It's amazing that they were able to brand this as "far left wing fringe" ideas in the first place. Most first world countries have a form of affordable health care.

Was this ever going to be sustainable? Sooner or later the realities of trickle down economics will hit enough people to break the spell. It's just such a shame that so many innocent people have to get hurt in the crossfire before people who believe in this "learn their lesson".

 

[EMT0]

Good. Let them burn.

 

[Mortemis]

Brent Saunders: "Hey guys, maybe we should try to get some trust back"

Also Brent Saunders: "Yeah lets also find new ways to fuck them over"

fuck these people

 

[FantasticMrFoxdie]

Bernie's opposite, evil-twin at it again

 

[phanphare]

He shared his candid thoughts last weekend at the Wells Fargo Healthcare Conference in Boston, a gathering for investors and major pharmaceutical and biotech firms

this sentence just sounds hilarious considering the context

 

[MetalGearZed]

If they're worried, then we are doing something right

 

[RDreamer]

Why would we ever "trust" drug companies? Why "trust" any company? Our country and its livelihood shouldn't be built on "trust." We see what can happen when things aren't codified either Trump. That happens with every institution and in every industry. Trust is for suckers.

 

[Sinfamy]

I was on Quora recently and saw this thread:

https://www.quora.com/Why-arent-Germans-patriotic

This particular post got me thinking.



I do think we're on the cusp of something here. This is where Trump's Presidency is a blessing in disguise. If progressive could redefine patriotism, I can see single payer happening.

I love that.
This is my problem with people saying patriotism leads to white supremacy and right wing administrations, I disagree, you have to define what patriotism is, and be fighting for it.
Love youe country for what it could be and fight to change it. Don't cower in shame of it, there are millions out there who agree with you.

 

[Malvolio]

Embrace the pony.

 

[To Far Away Times]

Well if we get Single Payer the gravy train is going to come to crushing halt for big pharma.

 

[Dr. Feel Good]

recently was denied insulin pump supplies after ten years on one to treat my type 1 diabetes. This was my response. I want these companies to suffer like the rest of us do.

 

[Random Painted HIghway]

Bummer.

 

[Tain]

Good, be scared.

Once we have single payer out of the way, we can and will move on to other areas of health justice:

Housing is health care. Food is health care. These are the social determinants of health, and the work of realizing them — the work of striving for health justice — can only begin after we've created the universal risk pool and single-payer mechanism.

 

[freeofgreed]

I was on Quora recently and saw this thread:

https://www.quora.com/Why-arent-Germans-patriotic

This particular post got me thinking.



I do think we're on the cusp of something here. This is where Trump's Presidency is a blessing in disguise. If progressive could redefine patriotism, I can see single payer happening.

Damn that's good. American patriotism is so fucking superficial. Yet we act like we're the most patriotic in the world.

 

[bebop242]

Fuck all those greedy motherfuckers. Scum of the capitalistic system. Make profit off of something else other than people's sicknesses.

 

[Raylan Targaryen]

Americans have lost trust in drug companies, Saunders said, noting the industry consistently ranks lower than oil and tobacco companies in public trust surveys.

lmao. tobacco industry is literally built around the concept of killing yourself and they're trusted more by the public

 

[badcrumble]

I'm glad we have outright villains like Martin Shkreli to point to the next time someone makes the absurd claim that you can't have pharmaceutical R&D budgets (which: don't come out of profits, they come out of revenues) without massive profit margins.

 

[JABEE]

America had a chance to reject deregulated banks. It's time to finally do it with Healthcare. Everyday people have been burdened with enough of the pain.

 

[Instro]

Holy shit at that bit about Restasis.

 

[SwiftDeath]

"I think we’ve got to do things to bring that trust back"

I smell a multi-million (perhaps even billion) marketing campaign to show all the wonderful things big pharma can do for you!

With no actual or real change to how they're handling drug pricing on truly needed drugs

 

[smokeandmirrors]

good. we should do the opposite of what they want

 

[badcrumble]

I smell a multi-million (perhaps even billion) marketing campaign to show all the wonderful things big pharma can do for you!drugs

It'd be more likely to take the form of smearing health justice supporters, tbh (and we've seen this in the past). It's a lot easier to drag your opponents down into the muck than to rehabilitate your own tarnished image.

 

[JABEE]

lmao. tobacco industry is literally built around the concept of killing yourself and they're trusted more by the public

That's because Private Health Insurance is built around the concept of killing you.

 

[Alexander DeLarge]

Holy shit at that bit about Restasis.

I take Restasis twice daily. It's my most expensive medication out of six by far.

 

[bionic77]

Americans today are so soft and weak.

Imagine complaining about dying because you aren't rich?

In my day we died 3 times a week while fighting 2 different wars at the same time and never complained about it.

 

[Omadahl]

This guy can get right back in his limo and fuck off to hell. Big pharma is only out for profits and couldn't care less about people's actual health needs.

 

[SwiftDeath]

It'd be more likely to take the form of smearing health justice supporters, tbh (and we've seen this in the past). It's a lot easier to drag your opponents down into the muck than to rehabilitate your own tarnished image.

You're probably correct sadly.

Why operate in a more moral way when you can simply drag down those that would oppose you?

 

[Unknown Soldier]

The drug companies have literally been extracting blood money from Americans for decades. The day of reckoning for their crimes against the American people is coming.

 

[FinaruDensetsu]

As long as the Republican party is in existence enough people will be deceived to keep single payer from being a reality.

 

[JABEE]

The drug companies have literally been extracting blood money from Americans for decades. The day of reckoning for their crimes against the American people is coming.

Watching loved ones die and thinking how things would have been different if they had money is being burned into the minds of people all over this country.

 

[Anoregon]

Americans today are so soft and weak.

Imagine complaining about dying because you aren't rich?

In my day we died 3 times a week while fighting 2 different wars at the same time and never complained about it.

ARE MILLENNIALS KILLING THE PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRY??

 

[Fuchsdh]

Wouldn't surprise me. Entrenched interests have a historical habit of refusing incremental reforms steadfastly until they get completely upended by the forces they tried to dismiss (i.e., every political revolution ever.)

 

[JustenP88]

Find another way to fuck people over if you're such a good capitalist.

Attributing free market principles and ideals to fucking health care is so absurd I can't believe it ever actually caught on.