Another chapter in the never-ending story of patient survival needs vs pharmaceutical industry greed. The Danish company Novo Nordisk, the world's leading supplier of insulin has decided to stop supplying near-bankrupt Greece with insulin, because the Greek government in a desperate attempt at saving money decreed a 25% price cut on all medicines. Patients are being held hostage here by a profit-driven organisation, to the extent that their well-being is at stake. So far for the myth that pharmaceutical companies are in the business of health... - One would hope that eventually the important lesson is learned by the powers that are that we cannot leave drug R&D more or less exclusively in the hands of for-profit operators. That the patients of whole societies can be held hostage by organizations such as Novo Nordisk, without recourse, is surely unacceptable.
Saturday, May 29, 2010
Industry greed vs patient needs
Another chapter in the never-ending story of patient survival needs vs pharmaceutical industry greed. The Danish company Novo Nordisk, the world's leading supplier of insulin has decided to stop supplying near-bankrupt Greece with insulin, because the Greek government in a desperate attempt at saving money decreed a 25% price cut on all medicines. Patients are being held hostage here by a profit-driven organisation, to the extent that their well-being is at stake. So far for the myth that pharmaceutical companies are in the business of health... - One would hope that eventually the important lesson is learned by the powers that are that we cannot leave drug R&D more or less exclusively in the hands of for-profit operators. That the patients of whole societies can be held hostage by organizations such as Novo Nordisk, without recourse, is surely unacceptable.
