WTF? The Washington Post reported last year that health and pharmaceutical companies spent almost $1 billion on just Facebook mobile ads in 2019. A complete waste of money, time and effort.
WHAT NOW? The Biden administration’s decision to support a temporary waiver of Covid-19 vaccine patents prompted instant outrage in the pharma sector, which argues that the move rides roughshod over their intellectual property rights and will discourage US innovation while sending jobs abroad. Biden’s top trade adviser Katherine Tai said that while the US government still “believes strongly” in intellectual property protections, it supported waiving patents for Covid-19 vaccines to help boost global production of jabs. This is the right and moral decision.
QUICK THOUGHT: Pfizer has already made $24 billion from their COVID vaccine, but that’s not enough; they want more, a lot more. They are planning to increase the vaccine price, and they’re working on an oral pill that could bring in as much as an additional $2 billion. While the U.S. Government didn’t pay for development, the German Government did. It is about providing a need at one hell of a profit margin.
SUMMARY: A new survey from the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Purchaser Business Group on Health shows signs that corporate executives might be warming to the idea of government getting more involved to rein in the excesses of the healthcare system. It’s affecting their bottom lines, and they won’t stand for that. Big changes are coming.
WHAT”S UP WITH THAT: A quick analysis of two pharma websites shows that Facebook, and others, are tracking users. Does pharma even know or care?
HMMMMM: The Internet is full of false health information, but perhaps it is none is more dangerous than the quacks warning people not to get a vaccination for COVID. They are endangering not only people who aren’t vaccinated but the population as a whole. Should they be held criminally or finally liable for their lies?
QUICK READ: Patients are returning to their doctor’s office, and it’s not uncommon for appointments, or routine visits, to be scheduled weeks or months in advance. I talked to some thought leaders, and they said that they don’t have time for either virtual patient visits or online pharma detailing.
QUICK READ:There are times when I really want to quit working in the industry and the latest news about pharma is aiming at U.S. lawmakers to stop the global push to lift intellectual property through a waiver for Covid vaccines is just the latest.
