Out of the Blue

Happy National Fruitcake Day! I actually tend to like fruitcake, but I haven't had any in a really long time, so I may not feel that way if I had some right now. Holiday foods aside, we had a rare visit to the movies on Christmas, as we went to see Rogue One. I can see why the reviews on this are mixed, as I have mixed feelings about it myself. There were parts I loved, and parts I didn't, but on balance the experience was positive, and I was happy to have seen it, and happy to have made the effort to do so in the theater. But I also just like movies in general, so in the same way I wouldn't be a good video game critic, I wouldn't be a good movie critic. Also, I probably would have considered the movie enjoyable if they just had Alan Tudyk's part surrounded by footage of cows grazing, so you may not want to go by me.

R.I.P.: Everybody Hates Chris Star Ricky Harris Dead: Actor Dies at 54.

Roguish Links: Thanks Ant and Acleacius.
Play: Anti Chess.
Story: CHP Officers Stunned by Use of Zip Ties in Place of Car Chains.
Science: USDA Develops Rapid Test for Imported Red Fire Ants.
Disappearing Spots - Panthera.
Media: Captain Picard sings "Let it Snow!"
Fan-O-Rama: A Futurama Fan Film. Thanks HARDOCP.
Peacock Spider Christmas.
Follow-ups: George Michael's philanthropy comes to light after his death.
George Michael's boyfriend reveals he died alone at home and 'battled a secret heroin addiction.'
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49.
 
Re: Out of the Blue
Dec 28, 2016, 13:17
49.
Re: Out of the Blue Dec 28, 2016, 13:17
Dec 28, 2016, 13:17
 
Kxmode wrote on Dec 28, 2016, 01:57:
I think believing Big Pharma is evil is blown out of proportion. Do I think the ethics of being a publically traded company gives pause? Sure, but does this make them bad? No. Do they do good? Of course. How? One way is they provide several million in aid to third-world countries comparable to that country's GDP. They also offer low-cost alternatives in the form of authorized generics. All my prescriptions are generics costing $5-$10 for a 30-90 day supply. Before a generic was available with my insurance one was $180 for a 30-day supply. Keep in mind Big Pharma spends billions to R&D new drugs and go through the FDA approval process. In 2014, is cost 2.6 billion to bring a new chemical entity to market (this includes FDA approval). If I were a shareholder, I would require they recoup their costs. Consider: if they were truly greedy, there wouldn't be generics. Thankfully, there are for most.

Big Pharma is not altruistic in the least. There are generics because the government sets the patent expiration for drugs at 20 years. Don't fool yourself: the drug companies salivate at Disney's 90 and 120 copyright expirations. And they develop slight modifications of existing drugs, market them and get approval as new drugs, and then sell them at the protected price even though they're not any better than existing drugs. And don't even get me started on Skreli or Epipen.

Fortunately they are one of the more heavily regulated industries, so the damaging aspects of capitalism are mitigated and they're able to provide an overall good. Could see that change under Trump, who wants to deregulate a lot of stuff. Wait until "market forces" come into play because of 100s of people dying from a bad drug.
If Russia stops fighting, the war ends. If Ukraine stops fighting, Ukraine ends. Slava Ukraini!
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