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Date Posted: 18:14:45 06/30/09 Tue
Author: Paul Davis
Subject: You get into the same situation with any cartel
In reply to: Shirley 's message, "You're absolutely right, Paul" on 10:11:02 06/30/09 Tue


If we had a water cartel (don't laugh, it's happened) or an electric cartel (ENRON tried) we'd have the same problem. At one time there was a transportation cartel in the US (see Mark Twain on the Mississippi River Pilots Association, which was replaced by "gentlemens agreements" among the early railroads) and they pretty much controlled what shipped and what didn't. And there was a beef trust and a pork trust - ever hear how Kellog's got off to a running start with processed cereals? There actually was a protest movement to eat cereal three times a day, because the meat cartels had driven the prices of food up.

In NO case were any of these cartels run for the benefit of the public, in every case they drove up prices and were used to control both government and citizens alike..

And those cartels are exactly the reason why those industries are regulated by the government today. Hell, Ky has a scandal about every other year as the state goes after the dairies that supply milk for the school lunch program for illegal price fixing.

Anyone who has a better idea for medicine better step forwards and speak up quickly, because the system is about to totally change. It can't be helped. The cartel has broken the system.


>How nuts is it that Medicare can't negotiate drug
>prices? Ditto AARP where a ton of their members were
>buying drugs? The Prescription Drug Plan was written
>by the pharms and they lined the pockets of politicans
>to get it passed in the middle of the night where
>there was much arm-twisting of the laggards.
>
>I've cited this example several times. Zocor, a drug
>prescribed for many senior to lower cholesterol is
>manufactured in Costa Rica by a US company. From
>there, it's shipped to Germany for packaging with half
>going to Canada and the other half to the US where
>it's sold at a much higher price. And contaminants
>have been found in the manufacturing plant.
>
>Major drug companies PAY generic manufacturers to keep
>generics off the market so they can continue their
>gouging. They've received million dollar fines for
>their scurilous deeds. I've found an older generic
>that's more effective and with virtually no side
>effects to replace my Zocor script. With WalMaart's
>gimmicky low cost on senior generics, each of my three
>generic drugs cost $12 per month. That's a HUGE
>difference.
>
>Do you realize that doctors are compensated by drug
>companies to prescribe high priced "miracle drugs"?
>It goes like this. Doctors keep a duplicate of the
>prescriptions withy write. Those are then given to
>the particular drug company. The drug companies then
>finance trips to "conferences" held in exotic
>locations and doctors can take along family members.
>Having had three RNs in the family gives a whole lot
>of insight into the dirty little practices.
>
>In Feb. I had cataract surgery on both eyes. The
>surgeon prescribed three different eye drops to use
>four times per day for a week preceding surgery.
>Cost? $450 per eye. I told him to snacel the
>surgery, that I couldn't (afford it. (actually could
>but I balk at that) Sure enough, he came up with
>samples of alternate drops at no cost to me. It was
>more important to him to collect the $3,500 Medicare
>paid for each eye. Each surgery took 10 minutes and
>he does it assembly line fashion. I was one of 20 he
>did that day, not all of them Medicare patients. The
>traditional fee charged insurance companies is $6,000
>per eye.
>
>My other complaint is FDA. Those who test drugs are
>allowed by law to own stocks in the very companies
>whose drugs they're testing. How sane is that? Isn't
>it in their best interest to approve those drugs? Why
>do have to wait until a hundred or more have died from
>taking a drug before it's pulled from the market?
>
>There's also a huge problem with the insurance
>companies involved in the Medicare Advantage plan,
>namely Blus Cross/Blue Shield and Anthem. They
>collect far more from Medicare than if a patient had
>stuck with the traditional Medicare plan. These are
>the real scammers. I know of three major corporations
>in Chicago and one local hospital who put Blue Cross
>on notice they would no longer deal with them unless
>they changed their late pay practices. Blue Cross got
>the message.
>
>Another FUBAR!

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