Hypocrisy from A to Z

Actually the title should be Hypocrisy from AZ since I am talking about AstraZeneca!

For months those of us who don't change the channel when commercials intrude on our lives have been witness to a tremendous series of ads from this pharmaceutical giant. At then end of each of these self-serving missives we are told that if we cannot pay for their product, "AstraZeneca may be able to help."

Aside from the fact that most of us have never heard of the drugs they speak of before the ad the best part of the spiel is the long list of possible side-effects. One such drug supposed to treat depression has as one of the known side-effects strange or scary dreams and suicide!

I don't know about you but I would rather be depressed than dead.

But the reason for this post is to point out a news item that appeared in the paper today (1-8-2010.) It was tucked away on the bottom of page 46 and was most likely only noticed by the most ardent of readers.

The article is about a little purple pill called Nexium and it is a gold mine for AZ.

You may click the above link to read the entire article but here are the basics:

1 AZ, who routinely offers to help those of us who cannot afford the ridiculously high price of drugs that could be bought outside the US for a fraction of the cost is willing to chip in occasionally to help some people pay for the product.

2 AZ will do everything in it's power to stop generic companies from offering the same drug at lower prices in the US.

3 AZ does not give a rat's ass about anything but their bottom line so the last words of all their TV ads IS A LIE!

As with everything involved in the hoax known as Health Care Reform in America companies such as AZ routinely fork over millions of dollars to keep the status quo.

The health care industry that includes Big Pharma has spent hundreds of millions of dollars rather than lower their prices. It may sound counter-intuitive but the money has been well spent. They are about to have their Congressional puppets mandate that everyone purchase insurance.

You may argue that they need the extra money for research and development but there should be a limit to their greed.

There is also a word for an organism that feeds of the host body to within an inch of its life knowing when to stop for fear of killing it. I used to think it was a parasite but I was wrong - from A to Z.