I recently saw yet another op-ed in another newspaper by another Big Pharma shill — you know, someone handed his talking points and told to go at it.
You can tell they’re a shill when they make exactly the same argument, point by point, as all the other shills make. You also know they’re a shill when they claim to be a conservative — and yet support blatant protectionism and all sorts of other anti-free market principles when it comes to Big Pharma.
Here’s a taste of the op-ed on Canadian drug reimportation, by a Dr. Gilbert Ross of the American Council on Science and Health in the Washington Examiner:
While many think of them as a cheap alternative to domestic drug purchases, the so-called “Canadian” drugs allowed under the Vitter Amendment can come from almost anywhere on the globe. It’s an easy path for substandard and toxic drugs to enter our supply…
Imposing price controls here — which is what importation, in effect, does — will lead to stagnation in our own drug research and development process. Our children and grandchildren will have to accept 2009-quality drugs far into the future.
Yes, the American Council on Science and Health is a corporate front group, of course. And Ross’ “conservative” arguments are as tired as can be.
But I was pleasantly surprised to see comments on Ross’ post by people who understand what conservative principles actually are — and who saw the post for what it was.
A “Lanier Y Chapman” wrote –
Shouldn’t good conservatives be against the FDA, which is a government regulator? Let drugs (medicinal and narcotic) come in, and let anyone buy anything from anywhere.
And by the way, free importation is not price control. It’s just free trade. How can you be against free trade? Dr. Ross sounds like a shill, and drug companies are sounding like car manufacturers, teachers’ unions, NEA perverts, steel producers, sugar growers, etc–lobbies that try to use government intervention to steal money from Americans.
And then there’s this comment from “Steve,” who introduces Ross’ pharma doubletalk to reality:
Yes, I want to see the U.S. pharmaceutical industry continue to be innovative; but at the same time, for example I’m getting a drug from India (thru Canada) that costs me $225 for a 90 day supply. The U.S. version (discovered by a U.S. company) would cost me over $1000 for a 90 day supply. And to make it worse, my insurance company will not pay for any of it, even though it is necessary.
Don’t buy any of Big Pharma’s ridiculous arguments about reimportation. And please, don’t buy that they’re “conservative” arguments.
They’re anything but.
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