If you want to read something that will make you sick, try this column in the Boston Globe, “What’s good for pharma is good for America.” The author, an academic named Richard Epstein, has experience as a Big Pharma consultant (although this is only mentioned at the end of the piece.)
The headline reminds of us of an equally wrong-headed statement many years ago by the CEO of General Motors: “What’s good for General Motors is good for the country.”
Of course, if our country had tied our wagon to GM, we’d be in real trouble these days. GM has had to compete in a world market, and Big Pharma should have to compete as well — instead of being protected by the FDA, lobbyists and lawmakers.
Don’t be fooled by those, like Epstein, who argue against government regulation. The reality is that Big Pharma receives more than its share of government protection and corporate welfare today — and that’s the government interference that must be addressed.
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