Bayer CEO Actually Said This: Cancer Drug Is For Rich Westerners, NOT Poor Indians

This controversy out of Bayer Pharmaceuticals has been pretty much ignored by the American media. You won't find it on CNN or any of the network channels. I don't know whether its because Bayer is a huge advertiser or whether they think the American people had their fill of "affluenza" stories this week on the heels of Tim Perkins' idiotic statement comparing rich people troubles to the Holocaust. (It goes without saying that its not on Fox either, but they aren't "news").

But its a pretty big deal...

Nexavar is a kidney and liver cancer-fighting drug that was developed by Bayer and approved for use over 9 years ago. Despite it being almost a decade, the price has not come down much for the drug. A one-year drug treatment costs $69,000 at minimum.

You read that right. To get a one year supply of pills it will cost you 69K US dollars.

India has a law that says they will allow other companies to manufacture a generic version of any life-saving drug IF that drug is massively overpriced.

In 2012, an Indian patent court ruled that, yeah, $69,000 dollars is quite a freaking lot to ask a dying person to pay for a damn drug treatment. (At least if your last name isn't "Koch".) As The Young Turks pointed out, 69K is 41 times the country's annual per capita income.

So India allowed a generic version to be made by another company at a cost of $177 a year-- a trite more reasonable. That's 99.7% less than the 69K.

Bayer's CEO, Marijn Dekkers, was outraged by the ruling. In an interview with Bloomberg BusinessWeek a few days ago he didn't even try to hide his contempt:

"We did not develop this medicine for Indians... we developed it for Western patients who can afford it!"

He said that.

Wow. He was able to not only piss on dying poor people but be racist while doing it.

Dekkers went on to say that the ruling was "essentially theft". (Said the man who charges 69k for a drug that can be made 99 times cheaper.)

I get the argument that drug companies have a reasonable expectation of profit. Yes, I also get that research and development can be expensive and they want to recoup some of that. But come on... you've charged $69,000 per person for life-saving treatment for almost a decade. I think you've recouped your expenses. There is no justification for charging that much to someone.

I remember the outrage I felt when affluenza was used as a murder defense last year, but I'm starting to think its a real affliction for people so ungodly rich they lose touch with humanity. No rational, healthy person would say they developed a life-saving drug for only rich people. Or compare complaints about obscene income inequality with being attacked by Nazis. Or play dress-up as a wage employee to mock working families.

At least this guy is being honest. But you'll understand that the next time I get a headache, I'll be passing over the Bayer aspirin.

UPDATE: Gooserock asked if government funds were used to foot the bill of development. I don't know the specifics of this drug, but I can tell you that it is often the case. The federal government spent $484 million to develop the cancer drug Taxol. Bristol-Myers reaped massive profits by selling 9 billion dollars worth. The National Institute of Health only received a 35 million royalty.

Florida ER: "Good Thing You Aren't a Teacher!"

I am writing this to you from the ER at my hospital in Central Florida. I had chest pains at 3am last night so decided not to take any chances. I was taken by a nurse, then poked, stabbed, and prodded, then back to my assigned room. (I'll be here overnight.) I was visited by a case worker, several nurses, a pharmacist, and of course, the bill collector. The bill collector was a nice, older lady that asked if I could pay all at once. I said yes. She told me it would be $100.00 with my insurance. Although I can afford it, I protested a little bit. I said it was $25 when I was here last (in 2001). She responded:

"Good thing you aren't a teacher."

I asked what she meant by that. She told me teachers now have to pay $300.00 JUST TO VISIT THE ER. A new teacher makes under $28,000 in Orange County, so I was surprised it was so much. I had chilling thoughts of young teachers bringing their children in and being forced to cough up so much just so their kids can be seen. I asked her how long has it been so high. She said matter-of-factly, "Just this year."

And then added, "Our new governor."

I started seething. Every day I am introduced to a way that teabag son-of-a-bitch is hurting people. It no doubt is contributing to my stress, which is probably why I'm here in the first place. But I couldn't resist. I blurted out how much of a bastard I think he is. She mumbled something about how he certainly doesn't seem to like teachers. I asked her what she tells teachers before she gives them the bill. Her response:

"At least you're not a firefighter."

She told me firefighters in the city have to pay $700 to be seen at the ER.

Teachers and firefighters are leeches in the eyes of our governor and his teabag cronies who run this state. This is ironic since the only ACTUAL leeches on the public dole are the governor and his teabag cronies: the ones who apparently get paid to hurt people, not help.

And these ACTUAL leeches don't see any problem with taxpayers being forced to give THEM sweet healthcare. Gov. Skeletor pays only $360 A YEAR for healthcare! That's less than any other government employee in the state, including his cleaning staff.

The FL teabag state legislators who rail against public servants and decry government "waste"?
They pay just $8.34 a month for healthcare!

No wonder my heart is giving out...

Central Florida Healthcare Townhalls

WE NEED HEALTHCARE REFORM NOW!!

The following is the list of local representatives and townhalls on Healthcare this month. If you support reform, attend. If you have genuine concerns and questions, attend. If you want to just scream at the top of your lungs that Obama is trying to euthanize you, please stay home, watch Glenn Beck, and eat soap.

Democrats:
Sen. Bill Nelson, Orlando-No

Rep. Corrine Brown, Jacksonville-No

Rep. Alan Grayson, Orlando-Yes. Plans town-hall meetings in Winter Garden, south Orange County and Ocala before the end of August but hasn't set dates.

Rep. Suzanne Kosmas, New Smyrna Beach-Yes. Will hold a telephone town-hall meeting before the end of August but hasn't set a date. Constituents will receive an automated phone call asking if they'd like to participate. To make sure your number is on Kosmas' list, call 1-877-956-7627.


Republicans:
Sen. Mel Martinez, Orlando-No

Rep. John Mica, Winter Park-Yes. Will hold a telephone town-hall meeting Aug. 24 at 7 p.m. Constituents will receive an automated phone call asking whether they'd like to participate. To make sure your number is on Mica's list, call his office at 407-657-8080.

Rep. Ginny Brown-Waite, Brooksville-Yes. Plans two town-hall meetings Aug. 24, but details haven't been finalized.

Rep. Bill Posey, Rockledge-Maybe. Plans a town-hall meeting before the end of August but hasn't set a date.

Rep. Cliff Stearns, Ocala-No.

Rep. Adam Putnam, Bartow-No.

How To Counter Arguments on HealthCare Reform

Any talk of controlling the deficit or fixing the economy without addressing the current healthcare crisis is futile. Our critics are arguing to keep a broken system, which is not just unsustainable, but is becoming catastrophic. Our costs are practically guaranteed to double over the next decade, which will lead to bankrupt employers and state governments.

This means millions more Americans will go uninsured—which is why premiums go up each year. You are covering the cost of those who can't afford to go to the doctor and end up having to go to the emergency room instead.

Those lucky enough to have insurance will be more vulnerable than ever to arbitrary denials of coverage.

Even right now, no one can argue that the care and cost are uneven, and while we spend more than any other nation on earth on healthcare, we are the only industrialized nation not to provide at least a minimum standard to all our citizens. With all the amount of money we are spending, we rank only 37th in the world for level of care, behind nations such as Cyprus or Columbia.

Bottom line is that we need to fix the problem. We needed to do this decades ago, but we can’t push this off anymore.

As expected, people with agendas to who just want our president to fail, or who profit from this broken system, are feeding outrageous talking points to the wingnut masses to carry out who are either too stupid or too lazy to realize that “Victory” for them means catastrophe for everyone. It's pointless to argue with the wingnut's, but several people who get bombarded with these falsehoods should get them corrected.

Morons, like those who attended the Tampa event in Florida, would not stop screaming that the reform will lead to healthcare for illegals or euthanasia of seniors (our own Ginny-Brown Waite, folks, said that. Don’t blame her, she was paid quite a bit too—see previous post). Even Palin today said they would kill her son. Idiots.

For these rantings, kindly direct them to this website, which puts the kibosh on the stupidity.

However, this category of people is called screaming stupid. These are people who make no attempt to read what the draft actually says unless, as Balam says, it fits their preconceived notions on Obama, the DNP, or evil “librals”.

They will always ignore the explanations given to them not only by professionals trained in interpreting legislation, but also by the people who actually wrote the legislation at issue, preferring instead to buy the interpretation of hyper-partisan nonprofessionals like Sarah, Rush, or glenn. Don’t waste your time.

For those who aren’t screaming stupid, they will argue point by point what is contained in the all-powerful HR 3200. One intelligent dissenter in the previous post contends to have “studied it carefully”--I'll take him at his word that he read all 1,018 pages. Normally, however, they will argue points given to them by their right-wing masters, such as this beauty that has circulated on the internet by the Liberty Counsel. (PAGE 2, Paragraph 3, Stroke 5, says we are all gonna die!!!)

Couple of things,

First, read the bill yourself: here

Second, the bill is a draft. No where near completion.

Third, according to Jennifer Tolbert, an independent health care analyst at the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonpartisan foundation that studies health care reform, the claims are “flat-out, blatant lies. It's unbelievable to me how they can claim to reference the legislation and then make claims that are blatantly false."

If you get this email or one like it, guide the good fellow to someone who has actually read the bill and talked with the bill’s authors. These folks went through each claim made by the liberty counsel point by point:


Politifact.com

Linda Bergthold

The president also does a good job of addressing the lunacy and the motivations behind them:




People who care about the truth will appreciate it.

Those who still disagree and want a rationale debate, please, by all means, give it to them.

But those who are angry with you and scream that this is the first step of forced abortions under a liberal Hitler, then you need to deal with them at their level. Have them play with THIS for awhile.

John Stossel Smears Victims Featured in SiCKO

I almost had a medical condition watching John Stossel last night crowing about how great our health care system is on 20/20. The purpose was to discredit Michael Moore. (Mike shouldn't have even bothered to show up. When Mike said something, Stossel would cut the program to something else, like a "statistic" without ever once saying "According to...")

This was just two days after he wrote a hit-piece in the Wall Street Journal that smeared the poor people featured in Mike's documentary, SICKO.

First of all, I don't know where to begin with Stossel's "reporting" last night.

Some of the "proof" he offered of how great we have it his by listing a lot of famous rich people who can afford to come the the US and get treated--at one point even talking up how Dick Cheney had FOUR heart attacks and he is still living! He closed the show by saying how Michael Moore got some treatment at an American luxury spa--NOT Cuba!! (Yeah, John, Mike is freakin' rich. Our system works great for those who can AFFORD IT!!)

On the show, he actually compared buying an expensive bottle of wine to receiving chemotherapy. At one point, he compared getting universal health coverage to buying groceries--"Why buy hamburger if you can have steak--someone else is paying for it"? as he dumped a whole bunch of steak into a shoppint cart.

He played the shill for an HMO executive he was "interviewing", which meant he asked snarky questions so the CEO could speak prewritten talking points. Stossel also noted how easy it was for him to get an interview with an HMO executive, unlike Moore claimed. (Gee, I wonder why the suit agreed to talk to you, John?)

He offered his ideas: "bargain-hunting" for health care as the employees do at Whole Foods, or those quicky clinics at Wal-Mart not staffed by doctors who can treat ailments for under $50. (Great--so if my daughter has cancer and I have no insurance, I can get cough medicine).

All of this paled in comparison to what Stossel wrote in the WSJ, entitled Sick Sob Stories. Julie Pierce was the primary target, and she responded on Michael Moore's website. I was just going to link it, but it is powerful and I really wanted you to see it:

Dear John,

My name is Julie Pierce. My husband was Tracy Pierce. I am featured in Michael Moore's documentary 'SiCKO.' In the movie, I share my deceased husband's story — his unsuccessful battle with our insurance company to receive what could have been life-saving treatments for kidney cancer.

I just read your Wall Street Journal article written on Sept. 13, 2007, titled "Sick Sob Stories." You begin by talking about Tracy's role in 'SiCKO,' and claim the bone marrow transplant denied by our insurer would not have saved him. You also accuse me of "sneering" over our situation.

In your 'reporting' of this story, you did not contact me, and you did not contact my husband's doctors. I cannot believe that a publication like the Wall Street Journal would print such an accusation without talking to anyone involved — especially in such a personal matter, which resulted in the death of my 37-year-old husband and the father of my child.

If you had contacted me, I would have told you that bone marrow transplants became a last option, only after our insurer denied many other treatments again and again and again.

I would have shown you a letter from our doctors at the Blood and Marrow Transplant Program at the University of Kansas Hospital, in which they argued strongly for the bone marrow transplant, citing "strong evidence" supporting the past success of that treatment — they wrote that it could "give him a chance to achieve complete remission." In fact, they called the bone marrow transplant "his only chance of survival."

Instead of calling me up and doing real reporting, all you can do is throw around studies from 1999 about the supposed inefficiency of bone marrow transplants for breast cancer patients — even though Tracy didn't have breasts. He had kidney cancer! I understand that you want to try to prove that private insurance in this country really isn't that bad. And I can see that you won't let the facts get in the way.

You go on to claim that Tracy wouldn't have received his transplant in a country with socialized medicine, either. Where is the evidence? Not only are more bone marrow transplants performed every year in Canada, but they invented the technology! So much for your ridiculous claim that "profit is what has created the amazing scientific innovations that the U.S. offers to the world. If government takes over, innovation slows, health care is rationed."

You are simply carrying water for the for-profit insurance industry that killed my husband. And then you have the nerve to accuse me of "sneering" about it. My husband has only been dead since January 18th, 2006. It is still fresh to me and my family, and comments like this are inhumane.

I have since tried to contact you via email, but you have not responded. I don't expect an answer. People like you just write with an agenda, without coming to the source or getting any facts, because your main goal is to try to discredit Michael Moore and universal health care. I understand it's a game — you did it without thinking about how you would hurt a family who have suffered — and are still suffering — such a tragic loss.

My family is not a "Sick Sob Story." We are a normal, American family that has had a significant member die from a horrible cancer that ravaged his body due to repeated denials from a health insurance company. We will never know for sure what would have worked because Tracy was never given a fighting chance. Over 18,000 Americans die each year because they don't have health insurance. I suppose theirs are "sob stories," too.

I don't want a hit-piece. I want answers. Why does our wonderful profit-driven system of medicine kill 18,000 Americans each year? Why do we pay far more for our health system than any other country, but have some of the lowest life expectancies and highest infant mortality rates in the Western world? Would you discredit the work of your late colleague Peter Jennings who, while suffering with lung cancer, did an excellent report titled "Breakdown: America's Health Insurance Crisis"?

I hope you have answers, but I am not optimistic. I pray that you will never have to go through what we went through — if you did, you wouldn't be so quick to cheerlead the system we were victimized by.

Julie Pierce
Mission, Kansas

If you are outraged by this, contact John Stossel and let him know.

Better yet, contact mike@michaelmoore.com and ask him to add a feature on his upcoming DVD release featuring the HMO's retaliation--to include Stossel's hit piece. This would at least allow Moore to respond--a chance he wasn't given on the interview last night.