limpy’s blog

Here is something that appeared in the Nursing Online DataBase.

These are just a few excerpts to see the whole thing link here:

Combined wealth of top 5 pharmaceutical companies outweighs GNP of sub-Saharan Africa.: Corporate Watch shows the public just how much wealth big pharmaceutical companies have, even on a global scale. Their report references The Guardian, which found that “the combined worth of the world’s top five drug companies is twice the combined GNP of all sub-Saharan Africa and their influence on the rules of world trade is many times stronger because they can bring their wealth to bear directly on the levers of western power.”

 

Ernesto Bertarelli makes Forbes’ billionaires list: Just as Americans are questioning the record profits and salaries of booming oil companies when they’re forced to accept rising prices at the pump, people may wonder about Ernesto Bertarelli’s billionaire status. Bertarelli is the CEO of the pharmaceutical company Serono, and Forbes reports that his net worth in 2002 reached $8.4 billion. That was enough to place him as the 31st richest person in the world.

 

Academics help pharmaceutical companies conduct research: A new trend in the R&D sector of the pharmaceutical industry features research-based partnerships between academic centers and drug companies. Marcia Angell explains the collaboration by writing that these companies “now ring the major academic research institutions and often carry out the initial phases of drug development, hoping for lucrative deals with big drug companies that can market the new drugs. Usually both academic researchers and their institutions own equity in the biotechnology companies they are involved with,” and everyone can “cash in on the public investment in research.” As academic centers play a more significant role in the success of the drug companies, they are more likely to take on the “entrepreneur” spirit and make profits from patents, royalties and stocks, which can mark up the prices for everyday consumers. 

[Unfortunately these research institutes have become the spawning ground for more and more profit driven drugs. Some are later proven to be seriously problematic and dangerous to the health of millions such as Vioxx and cholesterol lowering drugs more recently.

And the spawners who are threatened then attack homeopathy and homeopaths while remaining passive about their so called "science" based medicine problems. Take note Gimpy, Ben Goldacre and David Colququon and others]

 

Some drug companies are taking advantage of underdeveloped countries to perform clinical trials: Wired.com reports that India is becoming a more attractive place for drug companies to run clinical trials and test out new drugs. The article explains, “more and more drug companies are conducting clinical trials in developing countries where government oversight is more lax and research can be done for a fraction of the cost.” Controversy is starting to build over the trend, however, as one expert explains. Sean Philpott, managing editor of The American Journal of Bioethics, reveals to Wired.com that such practices may be unfair, as “individuals who participate in Indian clinical trials usually won’t be educated. Offering $100 [as payment for their participation] may be undue enticement; they may not even realize that they are being coerced.”