Drug Innovation 11: They Create Cures or Customers?

The pharmaceutical industry -- mainly grouped between the innovators and the generic producers, but often associated with the former -- always evokes lots of emotive comments, factual or not. Like this image below, posted by "Juicing Vegetables" page in facebook last Sunday.

As of this writing (9:20am, Manila time), it has attracted 6,667 likes, 7,117 shares, and 212 comments.

I am posting below some of those comments. They offer a wide variety of perspectives and opinions. Should be useful to both the pharma industry and its detractors/haters. You may see 212 comments in facebook here. It should become 300+, 500+ later. Enjoy
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Glen Kolenc It's naive to think a whole industry can exist without making a profit. I wouldn't work in any industry or job for nothing. Really this is business 101 - a business must profit to survive! Just because pharmaceutical companies profit, doesn't mean they aren't doing something for the good of people.

I also think its naive and irresponsible to think that pharma companies are responsible for our health. We need to take matters into our own hands.... If you are unwell, do as many healthy/natural remedies as possible but also go to the doctors. Take medicine if u need it but don't blindly think a tablet will cure everything. But don't be a fool & ignore the fact that medicines do save lives

(Replies)

Patricia Bruch We're all human guinea pigs. They get rich and some of us survive with no lasting effects. I understand they have to make a profit but at what cost? There are so many side effects from many of the pharmaceuticals out there that you have to wonder is it worth the risk? I for one did not take a prescribed medication because I really want to keep my Esophagus. It was stressed to me several times that erosion was a common side effect. Why would I take it??? 

 Julia Robinson Randolph My husband works for Abbott/Abbvie. He has never once decided to become a scientist for the profit!! He wanted to be a positive influence in this world. There are plenty of diseases out there that cannot be helped by nature alone and need help from medicine. Many meds. are not just chemicals either....Scientist work with nature as well. My husband has a PhD and went to school plus internship for over 10 years to make meds to help very serious diseases!! The amount of money it costs to make a single pill to help desperate people is amazing. There are other people such as celebrities, athletes, political folks, and bankers who make ten times more money than my husband, more actually. We are only middle class and struggle to make payments on bills like everyone else!! Stop poking at the pharma companies for without them, we would all be in serious trouble!! Nature needs alot of help!! I wish I could publicly tell you all that my husband has helped discover for many people's benefit, but I can't...Please stop making my husband look like some sort of profit monster bec. he works many, many hours to help others, and we do not drive new cars or have a million dollar home. 

Terri Basting He is probably a noble man, but somebodys getting rich at the cost of many. 

Aloysius Nelson those that involve in the profit gaining of prescription drugs,and those that support them,will never admits that over the counter drugs cause more problem to people more than it solve them,so who is the naive one? 

Yvone Fuqua It's not that they are making money, it's that they are HELPING the largest ELITE to BLOCK cures when all...... and I MEAN ALL of this was created IN the FOOD PROCESSING. MORE JUNK = MORE ILLNESSES.............. it's called POPULATION CONTROL in all reality. POOR can't afford the 150-200 a WEEK per PERSON to eat HEALTHY - I discovered this Cost and THANKGOD I have assistance to RECLAIM and REGAIN my health!

Angela Demars Roberts Unfortunately you are probably right about your husband, but that is because he is the one who does the work. It is the people employing him who are making the millions, while the middle class slave away trying to do something worthwhile. Also unfortunately the medications that actually help save lives are few and far between and are usually the ones that are used infrequently, not the ones sold as a daily use prescription. And indeed the diseases that might actually seem to warrant a daily prescription are definitely caused by what we are doing to ourselves!! Diet, toxins, etc.

Mary Velez sooo true
After the first pill,.. there's always 20 more bottles to"cure" the damage the first one made.

Christafer Duran "There's no money in the cure. The money is in the medicine. That's how a drug dealer makes his money. On the come back."

Robynne Lewis Ok sheeple. Let me know how it goes when you try to explain that to the parents whose child was murdered by someone suffering from a psychotic break whom could've been successfully treated with antipsychotic medication. It's a blanket statement to say that ALL medications are equally unneccessary. Open your minds - learn the facts for yourself rather than pressing "like" simply b/c you might not require life saving medication at this moment in time. Diet and exercise are critical to health but they're not a cure all, especially when it comes to brain abnormalities.