Fraud, Exploitation and Collusion: America’s Pharmaceutical Industry

By Charles Hugh Smith

The rot within manifested by the pharmaceutical industry almost defies description.

The theme this week is The Rot Within.

America’s Pharmaceutical industry takes pride of place in this week’s theme of The Rot Within, as the industry has raised fraud, exploitation and collusion to systemic perfection.

What other industry can routinely kill hundreds of thousands of Americans and suffer no blowback? Only recently has the toll of needless deaths from the opioid pandemic finally roused a comatose corporate media and bought-and-paid-for, see-no-evil Congress to wonder if maybe there should be some limits placed on Big Pharma and its drug distributors.

• The Drug Industry’s Triumph Over the DEA (WaPo)
• Explosive 60 Minutes investigation finds Congress and drug companies worked to cripple DEA’s ability to fight opioid abuse

What other industry can raise prices any time it wants because, well, it can?Longtime correspondent/physician J.F. recently submitted a chart of medication price increases (below)–nothing special, nothing out of the ordinary, just the usual because we can price increases.

What other industry has such complete control over the federal government?Dr. J.F. reminded me that the law enacting Medicare Part D prescription drug coverage specifically prohibits the U.S. government from negotiating lower prices on the immense volume of medications it purchases through Medicare (not to mention the Medicaid and Veterans Administration programs).

J.F. also submitted this investigative report from CNN, The little red pill being pushed on the elderly.

Here’s the money-shot:

The combination of two generic drugs that makes up Nuedexta — a cough suppressant and heart medication — was once available from specialty pharmacists willing to combine the ingredients for less than $1 a pill, according to a US Senate report on rising prescription drug prices. Now the FDA-approved medication costs as much as $12.60 a pill.

If this isn’t fraud, exploitation and collusion, then what is it? Please don’t say “good old free-market capitalism,” because competition is nowhere in sight.

The pharmaceutical industry is a crony-capitalist cartel that buys whatever political influence it requires to maintain its power and profits. Isn’t it obvious? Or have we become so distracted and drugged that we no longer care?

We’re number one! — in drug-induced deaths per million residents: isn’t it amazing that this raises no eyebrows at all in our “leadership” or the citizenry?

Can we be honest for a change, and just admit that profits are way more important in our status quo than a couple hundred thousand deaths in America’s permanent underclass?

The rot within manifested by the pharmaceutical industry almost defies description. That we tolerate this as business as usual (BAU) shows that ours is a society and economy afflicted with the sickness unto death.

‘Worse Than Big Tobacco’: How Big Pharma Fuels the Opioid Epidemic

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