I'm sure glad we still have a semblance of laissez faire capitalism in our country! Aren't you? I certainly don't blame Big Pharma for cutting back on those pesty, old drugs that are just totally unprofitable and moving their production overseas since their patents expired. Those generic meds that just take up so much space in their manufacturing and distribution centers...Methotrexate and Doxil being the latest examples of two totally unprofitable drugs.
I was just appalled when the FDA had to step in a force the importation of Methotrexate for all these silly kids in this country who have leukemia and were looking at no treatments for the next couple of months due to the shortage. I mean, hey....This idea of government getting involved in our health care is just baloney! I say let the kids die, dammit. That's how the free market works! What part of this scenario do these damn libbies don't understand?
What you say is not quite accurate; in fact, it is laughably, glaringly, preposterously wrong! The Federal Government did not have to force anyone to import anything.
In an article published on February 21, 2012, Jennifer Corbett of DOW Jones Newswire wrote that the Federal Government had allowed temporary importation of Doxil, and approved a new supplier of Methotrexate. They did so not because American manufacturers refused to supply the drugs, but because a major supplier had manufacturing problems. Here is a portion of the article:
“Supplies of both drugs started running low after Ben Venue Laboratories, a division of Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH, shut down a manufacturing plant in Ohio in November to address manufacturing problems with some products. Ben Venue makes Doxil for Johnson & Johnson and was among the larger suppliers of a preservative-free version of methotrexate, which doctors say is the primary treatment for children with acute lymphocytic leukemia, a type of blood cancer.”
The entire article can be read at the following link:
FDA Allows Temporary Importation Of Doxil Alternative; Approves New Methotrexate Supplier - www.capital.gr
The article explains that the new supplier of Methotrexate is APP. This pharmaceutical company has its corporate office in Raleigh, North Carolina and its manufacturing plants are located in Melrose Park, Illinois; Grand Island, New York; and Raleigh, North Carolina. Thus, the drug will be manufactured right here in the USA just as it has been all along. You can learn more about APP at the following link:
APP Pharmaceuticals - Fact Sheets
You make the same damn mistake that many liberals make when they attempt to criticize the free market. The problem with the shortage of drugs in this case was not caused by the free market, but rather by the governments restriction on the free market. If you read the article I supplied, you will find that the The FDA had to approve a new supplier. That's the problem; manufacturers cannot produce unless the government gives them permission. By limiting the number of suppliers, temporary shortages can be expected when there are production problems at even a single plant. The solution is simple: less government restrictions, more free markets!
Your assertion that the greed of American drug manufacturers is causing children to die is one of the most asinine things I have ever heard. I really would like to know where in the hell you got your information. Link?
