The Ethic Challange for Pharma Companies

Recently, the German drugmaker Bayer settled the incident over advertising of its blockbuster birth control pharma drug Yaz with a corrective $20 million national advertising. As the news made waves many opined that the episode only cements the reputation of the drugmaker as being the most ethically challenged pharma company around.
But is a single bad ad campaign enough to brand a manufacturer as ethically challenged?
The drug in question is in fact approved by the FDA as a birth control pill with a side benefit in treating premenstrual dysphoric disorder, and improving moderate acne. The problem lies not with the approved effects but with advertising, which has been considered in the FDA's warning letter as broadening the drugs indication, overstating its efficacy, while minimizing serious risks associated with the use of the drug.
The settlement aside, the question is whether the drugmaker is the only entity to run into problems because of advertising. Many advertisements day in and day out are questioned for making misleading claims for all sorts of products and services.
Also, just because an advertisement has been caught violating laws doesn't mean that those others who've violated but haven't been caught are angels. And this may be quite true within the medical industry, because critics suggest that the F.D.A. division that oversees drug promotion has a staff of only 52 people, who can't be expected to keep a tab on thousands of ad campaigns run by drug makers the year over.
While not being an advocate for any particular drug maker, I'd like to point out a just a few of the 'ethical initiatives' by the so termed 'ethically challenged' company.
Science and Education
Set up "BayLabs" as they're called at various sites in Germany. These laboratories allow schoolchildren to learn about chemistry and biology with carefully prepared experiments and learning programs.
Environment and Nature
In 2004 Bayer became the first private-sector company start a partnership with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) for involving the youth in caring for the environment. It's run over a dozen projects around the globe since then.
Health and Social Needs
As an aid to Asian tsunami victims the company provided both money and donations in kind with a total value of EUR 13 million (approx US$ 16.8 million).
You can find out more about the company from the Sustainability & Commitment section on the company's website.

Pharma Companies Try to Win Against Economic Recession?

Hit by the tsunami of recessionary economy causing sales to dip and growth rates forecasted to fall below historic levels, pharma drug companies have hit the panic button and are trying out different ways in their quest to survive.
Mergers & Acquisitions
Pfizer\'s acquisition of Wyeth for US$68 Billion is a striking example. The company has acted to safeguard itself, owing to the plummeting revenues from it\'s popular drug 'Lipitor' and several other products, which would soon be faced with expired patent protection.
But this is being seen as just the beginning of a whole wave of mergers to come by. Some other expected acquisitions are being speculated such as Roche buying out the remaining share of Genentech, Merck merging with Schering-Plough, a merger between Sanofi and Bristol-Myers Squibb, and more.
In fact the general expectation the big pharma companies are all set to taking over smaller player raised the hopes among small biotechnology companies

making the point

(1) We need to stop CAFTA, and any other attempts to cancel the US Constitution in favor of a big business controlled world government. If we can't stop it in this first go-around, then we'll have to do it the second time, or the third time.(2) We have to remove "Big Pharma's" right to advertise directly to consumers. (3) We must criminally prosecute industry executives for the deaths, and damages, of, and to, Americans. Merck, and Vioxx, knowingly killed 55,000 Americans, in the name of profit. Thimerasol in even more insidious. Mercury fillings in teeth have been accepted far too long.(4) We need to push to get the Bush administration's new "Health Insurance Guidelines" for America into effect. The Bush Administration, recognizing the overburdening of health care costs to American industry and its employees (the cost for health insurance for an American family of four is now $14,700 per year), wants to change the requirements for "Health Insurance Coverage" from "Full Coverage" to allowing Industry to offer "Catastrophic Coverage Plans" - with employees putting tax-free money into "Choice" plans, where they can spend their health dollars wherever they want...(5) We must ask Congress to pass a bill creating a "Health Czar," for a five year period to investigate, and straighten out, the US Hospital system - the number one annual killer of Americans. This agency must be given the power to criminally prosecute Hospital Administrators, and doctors, responsible for this calamity.(6) We must ask Congress to put laws in place stopping the revolving door between "Big Pharma" and the US FDA. We need the FDA to do what "we the people" intended it to do - not what "Big Pharma" wants it to do.(7) We must ask Congress, and the Bush Administration, to investigate, and vigorously prosecute, the "Quackbuster" conspiracy to suppress innovation in health care.So, why do we need to do ALL of these things?In essence, we need a Health Care "Nuremberg..." We cannot, as a society, permit what's happened to our health care system to continue, or to be able to resurface any time soon.

Big Pharma to destroy america?

Big Pharma" is using "Western Medicine" to Destroy America...
Provided as a Public Service by Gary Konigsberg of http://totalitarian-pseudoscience.org
Monday, August 1st, 2005
In the United States every company with over two hundred employees is required to provide full health insurance coverage to its employees. Since 1999, when the US FDA allowed "Big Pharma" to advertise directly to the American consumer, the cost of the average prescription drug has increased 500% - with no reason other than greed.
The same prescription drugs cost five to twenty times as much in the US as other countries. Because of this, the average cost of health insurance for a family of four, including the amount a company pays, and what the employee pays, is now $14,700 per year.
No company in the US can afford those increases in health care costs - so just to survive, at all, much less compete in a word-wide market, US companies are sending their labor requirements overseas - and shutting down US production facilities, laying off US workers, supervisors, managers, vice presidents, etc.

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