There is an article in the Washington post about epipens being jacked up in price to 600 and stories of PPL paying 1500 for two. Considering that it has about 1 dollars worth of product in it??.
Since I cannot post the link here is one of the congresswoman who is doing something about it.
Rep. Grace Meng (D-N.Y.) http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/ceo-behind-epipen-hike-is-senators-daughter/article/2600075?custom_click=rss
A congressman wants to fix what they caused, you know how that is going to turn out. Just higher prices.
The drug bijanus is a fairly crooked business IMHO.
Quote from: sawdstmakr on August 27, 2016, 12:15:41 AM
A congressman wants to fix what they caused, you know how that is going to turn out. Just higher prices.
Agreed 200%. The FDA blocks any company trying to market competition to the EpiPen so Mylan labs can make a killing. The ACA (Obama Care) has influenced prices, too.
If I could come upwith a product that some people absolutely HAD to have, that had to be replaced after one year and the government would protect me from competition, I'd jump at it. Tell me you guys wouldn't. Really?
yup...this is what happens when an alphabet agency controls product. The failure here is lack of competition/capitalism.
The solution of the government is to try to force some kind of price control. never works. The real solution is to get the government out of it.
Quote from: kathyp on August 27, 2016, 02:21:39 PM
yup...this is what happens when an alphabet agency controls product. The failure here is lack of competition/capitalism.
The solution of the government is to try to force some kind of price control. never works. The real solution is to get the government out of it.
Good luck with that one. Especially since the corporations that are being policed own the Police agency.
Yes the female that is making and extra 17 million a year has assumed that folks can only administer epinephrine with a pen.
You can get epi in a vial and draw up the dose. Not foolproof like the pen, but the exact same medicine. Now, for kiddo's, obviously that is not an option. But, it only takes 30 seconds to open the vial and draw up 3 ml and give the dose. The only difference is the epi pen injects the med "automatically" upon insertion into the skin and it is already the proper dose.
So, the majority of folks can get by just fine with a vial of epi and a syringe and reduce the sales to the epipen company
QuoteGood luck with that one. Especially since the corporations that are being policed own the Police agency.
In this case, another part of the market seems to be taking care of it. Thier stock has been tanking.
QuoteSo, the majority of folks can get by just fine with a vial of epi and a syringe and reduce the sales to the epipen company
Indeed, and did for many decades before the epipen
There have been other companies with generic or company brand ready to go for a long time. The FDA has blocked them and there have been patent disputes. Looks like the FDA is going to be forced into approving them. BUT, the FDA should not be in the business of blocking meds to the consumer in the first place. It's only job is to ensure a measure of safety, and there it has lost the balance between safety and getting stuff out to the public. It shouldn't take billions of dollars and many years to bring a drug from paper to public.
Stone me .... somebody's getting ripped off.
Just checked UK prices for pre-filled syringes of adrenaline - one company is trying to charge $65 each, but two others are charging near-enough $10. (prices based on 1 GB pound - 1.3 $US)
LJ
Quoteone company is trying to charge $65 each, but two others are charging near-enough $10. (prices based on 1 GB pound - 1.3 $US)
Probably buying from one of the companies that has been blocked from selling here.
:smile: One of the reasons we pay more is that you guys and the rest of the collective medicine types don't pay market for things. Neither do you come close to paying for the billions that companies spend bringing things to FDA compliance. Companies make it up on us! Our government makes it so very expensive to get drugs to market here that we are always paying more. it's for our own good, you know?
In this case, this is just stupid greed and the interference run for them by our own government agencies. That's ok. their stock is tanking and consumers are forcing the FDA to approve alternative meds.
The reason that consumers pay obscene amounts is that the drug co's have bought the politicos and had a government agency installed that is pro drug co's. The reason research is so expensive is that for a lot of drugs it takes an enormous amount of studies so that they can finally get the few needed that show the results they need to show to get them certified. On top of the research there is an enormous amount spent on conning Doctors into using their wares via the various kickback schemes. Basically the system is rotten.
As is quite well known in the business, the drug co's spend twice as much on marketting as they do on research.
This is why every year the amount of new drugs certified, equals the old ones removed from the marketplace for being dangerous and just plain killing or maiming too many folks.
The reason their stocks are plummetting is that the public has gotten wise to their shenanigens and are moving away in droves from the monopoly drug/surgery model. The horse is out of the barn. PPL cannot unlearn things. This is true even in European countries where it is paid for via taxes and "seems" to be free.
There is nothing inherently evil about pharmaceutical companies. They are a business. Thier first job is to make a profit. The big companies make a good size profit, but they include lots of biotech, not just drugs. Thier profit margin is lower than either Apple or Microsoft...as an example. Two companies to which people happily shell out big bucks for things they don't need.
is there cronyism between some of the pharm companies and the government? sure, and this case proves it. Remember though, cronyism only exists because of government. The more government regulation, interference, and goodies, the more incentive for business (of any kind) to try to find ways to get into bed with government.
Quote from: kathyp on August 29, 2016, 12:00:10 PM
There is nothing inherently evil about pharmaceutical companies. They are a business. Thier first job is to make a profit. The big companies make a good size profit, but they include lots of biotech, not just drugs. Thier profit margin is lower than either Apple or Microsoft...as an example. Two companies to which people happily shell out big bucks for things they don't need.
I can chose not to buy a computer, but if your child is on the edge of life, an epipen is hardly in the same category.
Here are some samples of the markup of drugs; http://www.rense.com/general54/preco.htm
Xanax 1 mg
Consumer price (100 tablets) :
$136.79Cost of general active ingredients:
$0.024Percent markup:
569,958%Claritin 10 mg
Consumer Price (100 tablets):
$215.17Cost of general active ingredients:
$0.71Percent markup:
30,306%Personally I don't waste my money on the garbage because it is like disconnecting the "Check Engine" light, rather than getting to the root and fixing the original problem. Sort of like spraying air freshener in a hive dying from foubrood.
BTW as an example the cost of Xanex has nothing to do with recouping costs, as they sell in the range of 44 million prescriptions annually and since it is popular as a non-precription addictive medication who really knows how much is sold. Cocaine was once a prescription drug and was Sigmund Freud's drug of choice for his clients. Coca Cola removed cocaine from it's product around the turn of the 20th century only due to popular pressure. They are now slowly going out of business also.
OK OK End of my rant?. Ooooo I feel better now. thanks?..
Maybe I should go our and sniff the
roses er ah hives :cheesy:
Quote from: kathyp on August 29, 2016, 12:00:10 PMis there cronyism between some of the pharm companies and the government? sure, and this case proves it. Remember though, cronyism only exists because of government. The more government regulation, interference, and goodies, the more incentive for business (of any kind) to try to find ways to get into bed with government.
How does this case prove it?
Mylan had one major competitor - that competitor pulled their product from the market because it wasn't working properly (it wasn't injecting a consistent dose). Mylan increased their prices by about 500%.
Demand is static, supply dropped drastically - prices went up. That's basic capitalism.
The argument that this is a problem CAUSED by regulation is absurd. It's a perfect example of how unconstrained markets work best for whoever has the most leverage - not necessarily the consumer.
CrazyTalk,
You only have to look at the swinging door policy getween the drug companies and the FDA. Someone is working at the drug co's in charge of a certain drug unveilling and then they somehow magically get a job with the FDA and are "gee what a surprise" in charge of fast tracking it's way through the "certification" process.
There are a bundle of current and historical studies, books, movies and websites outlining the game played by the large drug co's. It's not news and it certainly is not paranoia. These rascals also do their best both above and below board to prevent the introduction of new methods of healing and curing diseases. This is well known and documented.
This is only one example. If you were to talk to the epipen manufacturers that were effectively stopped, you would get a more accurate picture of why there is no competition.
Have a look at who is on the board of the FDA and their association to (employees of) the drug co's.
The Doctor's union is also up to these kind of shenanigans ; (There is a movie on it
http://www.nytimes.com/1987/08/29/us/us-judge-finds-medical-group-conspired-against-chiropractors.html
http://www.naturalnews.com/049680_chiropractic_alternative_medicine_AMA.html
http://www.yourmedicaldetective.com/public/237.cfm
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2011/12/30/rethinking-medical-associations-best-interests.aspx
As for government agencies ensuring our health and well-being, and preventing low balling companies from hurting PPL that is a joke. Watch the movie "Vaxxed" to see your tax dollars in action.
Why can little John find the same stuff for $10.
This article on iatrogenic diseases (Doctor and systemic deaths, mostly drug related) in the US, gives a clear indication on how well the FDA is keeping the country healthy. It is the 3rd largest killer in the US. http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2000/07/30/doctors-death-part-one.aspx
Drugs do not get tested on PPL in the age groups of the end users. They use young males 21 to 25 to test the drugs, because males in that group are too proud to admit they feel side-effects and are just plain more robust and the studies are so short that the side effects never show up. Then the drugs are sold to children and seniors with disasterous results. Also amazingly, there is no testing required to check interactions of different drugs which my understanding is one of the main causes of the massive amounts of deaths. Another amazing fact is that Doctors and pharmacists who accidentally or intentionally sidestep the paltry systems designed to prevent known bad reactions (deaths for instance) from multiple drug interactions result in nothing but a slap on the wrist to the "professionals" who get 'oops' caught. Heck wouldn't want to miss out on a $ 10. dispensing fee.
If airliners had such a bad track record, no one would travel except by car. Going to an (allopathic) Doctor is like Russian Roulette.
Surgery had an error/death rate approaching 50% until the UN got some surgeons to sit down and iron the mess of it. One Doctor who was selected to head it up and studied surgery around the world. The US was ranked as one of the worst and certain third world countries the best and from the book the surgeon wrote, it seemed like the problem was mostly blown out of proportion ego trips. They weren't even using checklists, wouldn't listen to nurses or anyone for that matter. Totally amazing. Try acting like that in a modern airliner and see how long you last.
Whew another rant??. I'll be OK. Just have to take my Prozac LOL :cheesy:
I saw a picture of an epipen once. It didn't cost me anything... ;)
QuoteThe argument that this is a problem CAUSED by regulation is absurd. It's a perfect example of how unconstrained markets work best for whoever has the most leverage - not necessarily the consumer.
you need only look at the companies that have tried to enter the market and who has blocked them. The FDA and the patent lawyers...in spite of the fact that auto injectors are used for other drugs and by multiple companies. The inaccurate dosing complaint was pretty lame. The company accused made the required adjustments and was still kept from the market.
I don't have a problem with some regulation on drugs. Safety in medicine should be a priority. I do have a problem with an agency overstepping its mandate in not only approval, but in the process to get approval.
QuoteDrugs do not get tested on PPL in the age groups of the end users. They use young males 21 to 25 to test the drugs, because males in that group are too proud to admit they feel side-effects and are just plain more robust and the studies are so short that the side effects never show up. Then the drugs are sold to children and seniors with disasterous results. Also amazingly, there is no testing required to check interactions of different drugs which my understanding is one of the main causes of the massive amounts of deaths. Another amazing fact is that Doctors and pharmacists who accidentally or intentionally sidestep the paltry systems designed to prevent known bad reactions (deaths for instance) from multiple drug interactions result in nothing but a slap on the wrist to the "professionals" who get 'oops' caught. Heck wouldn't want to miss out on a $ 10. dispensing fee.
Inaccurate. you do not know the testing process.
They announced today that they will be offering a generic epipen for three hundred dollars by the same manufacture.
????????
If they make the name brand epipen what makes it generic if they are using the same delivery system and same drug?
Guess it's their way of backpedaling with saying they screwed up!
John
Gee, you think? That's pretty subtle of them isn't it? Now they are only 250 times the old price, huh?
Still, I agree with Kathy (I think) that the purpose of business is to make money. Mylan just got caught doing it in a heavy-handed way, but like somebody else said, it's still not at the same profit margin as Apple and Microsoft. And then there are the Clintons, who get paid millions just to give 20-minute speeches to foreign groups who then get special attention from the Secretary of State. It's just business, folks. Nothing to see here. Move along to something else.
Quote from: kathyp on August 29, 2016, 09:02:48 PM
Inaccurate. you do not know the testing process.
This could turn into a you know what contest, but if you insist just go read all of the books that talk about the chicany that is used by researchers to bend results. Read the books (if you have a ton of time to read them all), written by Doctors who see the light after years of prescribing and curing very little. Read the number of books written by ex-drug salespeople (male and female) who finally started to piece together the real story behind their marketting prowess/trickery and it's results in patients. Often it is when one of these PPL sees a relative die or become an addict with their life ruined from taking their wares (drugs) that they see the light and they either get out of the business or turn into crusaders.
http://oneradionetwork.com/latest/alternative-media-blows-the-lid-on-big-pharmas-massive-bribery-network-article/
Science is so easy to fix, you start with a result and work backwards. The lure of big money, University grants, fame is too much to say "no" to. The government just rubber stamps it as is witnessed by the stuff that was exposed in the Vaxxed "movie" which was just plain good old flat out lying?. Wink wink 'All for one and one for all', until one of the researchers just had such a terrible heartache about lying and the destruction that it wrought, that he blew the whistle and even then, nothing can happen because Congress has to supena him in order for anything to be changed and they are all bought and paid for?. Like who is going to grow a set and disturb the barn floor.
Reminds me of the cartoon that showed a young researcher suddenly exclaiming to his boss that
"Eureka, I found the cure to cancer.
The old guy says "The H#ll you have, we'll lose all of our grants and have to close down".
Take a wild guess how many gazillions of dollars have been raised for "a cure" and they are still pawning the same ole crap that they started selling after WW2 when they had all of this excess mustard gas and they figured out a way to pawn it off on an unsuspecting public. They dressed it up in the name of chemotherapy and it still has the same 2.1% rate of 5 year survival rate that it had from the get go. They have a wonderful way of lying about that figure which includes some incredibly slick techniques like not including the most difficult cancers to cure as well as a number of other tricks like if you die from chemo before all the treatments are done they do not include you in the stats.
The methods used to cheat science used seem so benign, until you really pay attention. Plus they can do as many researches as it takes and then cherry pick the ones that prove, however thinly, that there is a "benefit" to their 'product'. This is of course why celebrex, thalidomide etc. etc. make it through the cracks. In fact thalidomide is still sold in third world countries because PPL in first world countries made such a stink.
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2012/07/12/drug-companies-on-scientific-fraud.aspx
Nowadays there is a website where honest researchers publish their research before they start and then after they finish so that there can be less chance for lying by not telling anyone about a failed research.
Then there is the stuff that is hard to prove, like small companies that have come up with real tangible products for treating and curing a wide range of diseases only to be bullied by the AMA and drug co's and FDA via the legal system via driving researchers crazy with ridiculous court cases, or in some cases with out and out criminal activity such as destroying laboratories, stealing documentation, equipment etc and doing the same thing that the AMA did to the chiropractors with their campaign of disinformation, and misrepresentation. Lately about 30 some natural health practitioners/researchers primarily in the FLA area have mysterious died, such as shooting themselves in the head and then jumping into a river. Hmmmmm suicide. That's a neat trick. http://www.naturalnews.com/052975_holistic_doctor_deaths_thermography_cancer_detection.html
https://www.davidwolfe.com/breaking-29-holistic-doctorspractitioners-found-poisoned-some-nearly-dead-another-attack-on-alternative-medicine/
http://truththeory.com/2016/06/26/50-holistic-doctors-have-mysteriously-died-in-the-last-year-but-whats-being-done-about-it/
I of course am not suggesting that all researchers are crooks, or government employees are liars or that all medications are poison, but the problem is that it is so easy for the crooks to win, and when you take drugs blindly as most do, you are playing Russian roulette and if you are taking more than one you are living on the edge and run a decent chance of dying there.
Businesses are created to make money and so is the Mafia and so is Bilary apparently.
Iphones cost about three hundred to make and sell for three times that so 300% is no where near the markup for drugs like 569,958% for Xanex
http://time.com/3426087/apple-iphone-6-cost/
http://oneradionetwork.com/health-articles/disgusting-even-huge-11-billion-fines-dont-stop-big-pharma-article/
http://oneradionetwork.com/newsflash/50-signs-that-the-u-s-health-care-system-is-a-gigantic-money-making-scam-that-is-about-to-collapse-article/
http://oneradionetwork.com/products-new-technologies-articles/former-drug-rep-tells-tales-of-other-than-the-best-behavior/
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2011/11/05/health-liberty-and-forced-vaccination.aspx
http://prescriptiondrugs.procon.org/view.resource.php?resourceID=005528
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_withdrawn_drugs
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2013/12/04/webmd-obamacare.aspx
QuoteStill, I agree with Kathy (I think) that the purpose of business is to make money.
The equally important point is that market forces control price and quality. When the government picks winners and losers, market forces are removed. We have not had market forces in medicine since people demanded that someone else pay for their care.
The purpose of the FDA was to separate for the population the snake oil from the cod liver oil. They have gone very far past that job.
Flyboy, I invest in different kinds of medical companies, among them pharmaceutical companies. I keep a pretty close eye on what and how they do things. I know what it costs and how long it takes to bring a drug to market, and how many (most) are rejected or held up by the FDA. One drug may cost billions to go through the process and 10 others that have cost millions in development will be turned down.
I am not making the argument that all companies are honest or good. Only that most people do not understand the cost and the added cost by government to bring something to market.
It is your choice whether you take a thing or not. Having that thing available for the person who chooses it is as important as your right to reject it.
Generic Xanax (Alprazolam) will run between 12 and 20 dollars without insurance for 30 depending on dose. Some of the sites you use for info are off the wall. Check your info sources. Mercola is a fruit loop...just to name one....
Quote from: kathyp on August 29, 2016, 11:43:14 PM
Flyboy, I invest in different kinds of medical companies, among them pharmaceutical companies. I keep a pretty close eye on what and how they do things. I know what it costs and how long it takes to bring a drug to market, and how many (most) are rejected or held up by the FDA. One drug may cost billions to go through the process and 10 others that have cost millions in development will be turned down.
Ah so since you invest in them, you have a vested interest in, or a horse in this race. I understand why you are so interested in this discussion.
Fact of the matter is that he who has the gold makes the rules, and ever since the Rockefellas and Carnegies etc took over the drug business back in the early 1900's, (by amoungst other things shutting down most of the medical schools at the time) after he was slowed down by the government in his monopolistic activities in the oil business, he turned his attention to the drug business which he had learned from his father (who was a carnival barker that sold petroleum as a cure for all disease) that there was lots of gold in them thar hills. Drug hills that is.
So he set up another monopoly, but since he learned from the oil business about how he looked bad in the public eye, he did a better and more quiet job of running the monopoly. Then he used his money to buy politicians and create the FDA as a government enforcement arm of his new monopoly. This kind of thing is easy to do. Bush did it with Homeland Security which is just a scam like Kings and Queens have used since forever to control the populace. Caesar et al did it, ad nauseum.
Read "The Prince" by Machiavelli, which is a manual for how to keep the natives in line or "Getting their minds right". Here's a free download of it: http://www.constitution.org/mac/prince00.htm
So the deal is that they make the rules and make it ridiculously expensive to certify drugs, so most companies cannot afford it. But not a problem for the big dawgs, because it's like Hollywood, in that if you get a winner you need a supertanker to carry the dinero.
As far as "rejected and being held up by the FDA" one must look at cases like Aspartame which was rejected by the FDA as not safe etc. but then when Good ole Donald Rumsfield (Searle chairman, Searle holds the patent on Aspartame) played the government game by appointing PPL who were obviously beholden to and invested in the decision... and bingo, dispite the science that showed Aspartame to be bad news, it was approved. The Gov. we love.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robbie-gennet/donald-rumsfeld-and-the-s_b_805581.html
BTW I have a friend who is an addict of Pepsi and is now legally blind, cannot walk and is basically a basket case. These symptoms are all the stuff mentioned in the science and public testimony about spurious neuological/cerebral damage. Basically, it literally rots the brain leaving holes behind. Read Daniel Amen's books on the brain.
h
Quote from: kathyp on August 29, 2016, 11:43:14 PM
It is your choice whether you take a thing or not.
That is a fascinating statement.
Most PPL know nothing about science, government, the things that the wealthy do to to milk them of their money. They might guess it, but PPL generally accept and believe that FDA doesn't mean "Fear and Death Aministration".
So when they go to a Doc and the Doc gives them a drug and then another, they guess that the Doc gave them something that has "Evidence based Science" behind it. They have no idea that drugs are well known (if you know how to look online or get hold of the package insert on drugs, that you have to have an electron microscope to read) to never have been tested for their reactions with other drugs, so they blithely take it and fall dead, or worse, become an invalid leaving behind spouses, children and so forth to pick up the pieces. Here they paid taxes (4.36 billion dollars) to support this monolithic corrupt institution and it effectively failed them as it does to enough PPL to annually amount to being the third largest killer in the US. Some PPL argue the largest killer in the country.
For the record I have been told by an MD that most MDs do not even read package inserts, but just swallow what drug reps (who are just high paid salespeople) feed them.
Quote from: kathyp on August 29, 2016, 11:43:14 PM
Having that thing available for the person who chooses it is as important as your right to reject it.
Woowee, now there's a good one. Open the floodgates. Lets put heroin in candy for kiddies, maybe kiddy porn at the corner store. Kathy said so. Coca Cola after all did have cocaine in it up to the early 1900's. Women's makeup had lead in which of course caused serious neurolgical issues.
Quote from: kathyp on August 29, 2016, 11:43:14 PMSome of the sites you use for info are off the wall. Check your info sources. Mercola is a fruit loop...just to name one....
That is totally lame. Mercola is probably one of the most visited/trusted sites on the net. He obviously doesn't fit into your investment portfolio, (and probably your carreer path) so I see why you made that statement. You just make a statement with no proof and everyone is supposed to accept it. Sounds like a religion. I suppose the N Y Times is a frootloop paper also? Actually what I have said is often from JAMA (Journal of the American Medical Association) and the Allopathic websites. Maybe do some reading outside the company line. Might save your life.
I have no interest in price gouging or monopolies. You seem to have me riding both sides of the fence. I am for competition and market forces on prices and products without undue government interference.....even when it means I might earn less as a shareholder. Yup, some of us care about free markets!
You obviously have firmly held opinions and I'll leave you to them. If you had been around here a while you'd know that I am consistent in mine.
As I see it, the only reason the Epipen is so expensive, is because of the patent on it. But - the patent is not for the drug itself, but for the mode of it's delivery. As soon as you get away from that novel mode of delivery, then the market price for a near-enough equivalent product can be a tiny fraction of that currently being charged for Epipens.
The arguments being expressed regarding the need for on-going multi-billion dollar investments in drug research are somewhat irrelevant in this instance.
LJ
Quote from: kathyp on August 29, 2016, 09:02:48 PM
QuoteThe argument that this is a problem CAUSED by regulation is absurd. It's a perfect example of how unconstrained markets work best for whoever has the most leverage - not necessarily the consumer.
you need only look at the companies that have tried to enter the market and who has blocked them. The FDA and the patent lawyers...in spite of the fact that auto injectors are used for other drugs and by multiple companies. The inaccurate dosing complaint was pretty lame. The company accused made the required adjustments and was still kept from the market.
What specific companies have tried to enter the Epinephrine auto-injector market and been blocked by the goverment? Mylan's main competitor issued a VOLUNTARY recall because their product doesn't work.
Being kept off the market because you can't produce a product that is safe not a bad thing. We were not better off when medicine was the wild west and companies were regularly killing people with their products.
Quote from: kathyp on August 29, 2016, 11:33:15 PM
Quote
The purpose of the FDA was to separate for the population the snake oil from the cod liver oil. They have gone very far past that job.
Interestingly the original snake oil story is quite different from the modern version and was/is another example of the drug industry making up a lie to sell their own garbage.
Snake oil comes originally from China and is derived from water snakes and has been used for who knows how long there for pain relief. The Chinese workers that came over to work on the railway brought it with htem. The Allopaths wanted to sell their meds which were probably just booze and marijuana at the time and possibly cocaine and heroin based. So they made up a story which had just enough truth in it to be believable. When charlatans at the time saw that snake oil really worked, they started trying to get it from rattlesnakes etc. and sold it at county fairs. Rattlesnakes by comparison have only 8% of the active ingredients while the water snakes have 20%.
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/snake-oil-salesmen-knew-something/
So the name stuck. Then a Doctor in San Francisco back in the 1989 decided to lay the story to rest forever and did the science that proved finally that the real snake oil from Chinese water snakes is a very real and effective pain killer. Aside from the carrier oil, the 25% of the product contained a variety of acids etc that do the magic. It has been studied in Japan and mice that were treated with it actually got smarter.
If you want more details read "The Rife Handbook" by Nenah Sylver, PHD.
QuoteInterestingly the original snake oil story is quite different from the modern version and was/is another example of the drug industry making up a lie to sell their own garbage.
met?a?phor
ˈmedəˌf?r,ˈmedəˌfər/
noun
a figure of speech in which a word or phrase is applied to an object or action to which it is not literally applicable.
"?I had fallen through a trapdoor of depression,? said Mark, who was fond of theatrical metaphors"
synonyms: figure of speech, image, trope, analogy, comparison, symbol, word painting/picture
"the profusion of metaphors in her everyday speech has gotten pretty tiresome"
a thing regarded as representative or symbolic of something else, especially something abstract.
"the amounts of money being lost by the company were enough to make it a metaphor for an industry that was teetering"
QuoteBeing kept off the market because you can't produce a product that is safe not a bad thing. We were not better off when medicine was the wild west and companies were regularly killing people with their products.
That is not what I advocate. I am pointing out that the FDA, like all alphabet agencies, has gone beyond its mandate to often become an impediment to competition.
QuoteAs I see it, the only reason the Epipen is so expensive, is because of the patent on it.
auto injectors are made by a number of different companies and used in a number of different drugs. They are not rocket science. there was indeed a patent challenge and it was used as a way to block competitors, but since there are alternatives, it should not have been.