The other day I was standing in line at Rite Aid to pick up a prescription, as the next person in line. The woman ahead of me went up to the counter gave her name and birth date and the person at the counter went into the store room and came back with her prescription, and handed it to her, and I heard her say, “That will be $1800.” The whole room must have heard her response. “$1800. I can’t afford that. I’m retired, I live on my social security, and a tiny retirement policy. I can’t do this,” she said. And as she turned I could see the fear and crisis in her face. Then she said, “What can I do?” The counter woman shook her head, and said. “I am so sorry. I don’t know what to tell you. Maybe you could ask your doctor if there is something else you could take.” The woman put the envelope back on the counter and walked away. As she went past me I could see the tears and anger on her face. It confirmed for me once again that Big Pharma is a system designed for profit not wellbeing.
Advocates hold a vigil outside of Eli Lilly offices in New York City Credit: Erik McGregor / LightRocket / Getty
“Seniors and families already struggling to afford lifesaving medicines are told to brace for further price hikes by the same industry that saw its profits and shareholder rewards skyrocket by billions in a year.”
An analysis published Tuesday shows that the five largest pharmaceutical companies in the United States raked in combined earnings of $82 billion last year and rewarded investors with billions of dollars in dividends and stock buybacks—all while hiking prices for prescription drugs and fighting federal efforts to curb costs.
The new analysis by the progressive watchdog group Accountable.US finds that Eli Lilly, Johnson & Johnson, Merck, AbbVie, and Pfizer increased their combined share repurchases and dividends by $4.4 billion and $2.5 billion respectively in 2022 as their profits grew by nearly $9 billion compared to 2021.
Last year, pharmaceutical companies raised the prices of more than 1,100 medicines, according to a tally by Patients for Affordable Drugs.
The entire problem and process is encapsulated in the phenomena of the Moderna millionaire. The company was funded and supported by the American Taxpayer.The company would not exist without the taxpayer. A company which never produced a “vaccine” before, generates billions of dollars in government contracts while the executives walk away incredibly wealthy. The Patent and profits for the product goes to the private corporation. This formula has been replicated again and again in the past 40 years. “Privatize the profits and socialize the costs”.
The entire problem and process is encapsulated in the phenomena of the Moderna millionaire. The company was funded and supported by the American Taxpayer.The company would not exist without the taxpayer. A company which never produced a “vaccine” before, generates billions of dollars in government contracts while the executives walk away incredibly wealthy. The Patent and profits for the product goes to the private corporation. This formula has been replicated again and again in the past 40 years. “Privatize the profits and socialize the costs”.