Big Pharma is the nickname given to the world’s vast and influential pharmaceutical industry and its trade group, the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America …
Big Pharma
Big Pharma is the nickname given to the world’s vast and influential pharmaceutical industry and its trade group, the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America or PhRMA. Big Pharma and medical device companies make billions of dollars every year selling drugs and devices — including those that were recalled or involved in fraud or product liability lawsuits. The global revenue for pharmaceuticals was over $1 trillion in 2014. But nowhere else in the world do the drug and medical device industries have as much power and make as much money as in the U.S. In fact, Americans spent an all-time high of $457 billion on prescription drugs in 2015. By 2020, it will be $610 billion. Medical devices are also lucrative. The U.S. makes up about half of the world’s share of the market at about $148 billion, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce.
Meanwhile, drug prices continue to rise. Consulting firm Segal Consulting expects drug prices for Americans under age 65 to rise 11.6 percent in 2017. In contrast, wages are only expected to rise 2.5 percent, leaving many American unable to afford their medications. Big Pharma even contributes heavily to the annual budget of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) through application fees (user fees) for its new products. Experts say the industry contributes about two thirds of the FDA’s budget. Five of the top 10 pharma and medical device companies for 2016 are headquartered in the U.S.: Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer, Merck, Gilead and AbbVie.
The underside of the industry reveals a history of fraud, bribery, product liability lawsuits and scandals that led to billions in settlements — a known cost of doing business for these companies who are “too big to jail.” Despite criminal charges and fines, the companies continue to do business. The majority of drugs and medical devices have ties to a small group of parent companies. Prescription drugs and devices manufactured by these companies bring in billions in profits. The biggest drug makers may also have subsidiaries that manufacture medical devices. Pharmaceutical companies are typically larger and make more money than companies that focus on medical devices.
The Biden administration has officially declared monkeypox a public health emergency. "I want to make an announcement today that I will be declaring a public health emergency," HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra said during a Thursday call with reporters. "We’re prepared to take our response to the next level in addressing this virus." "We urge every American to kick monkey pox seriously and to take responsibility and ...
A British communist scientist who wanted face masks to be worn forever has been handed an influential role at the World Health Organization. Professor Susan Michie — a longstanding member of the Communist Party of Britain and Labour donor — was yesterday made chair of the WHO's behavioural advisory group. She will advise the organisation on how to boost compliance with vaccine rollouts and other interventions that help shape ...
On Saturday, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the monkeypox outbreak a global health emergency just before the midterm election. On Thursday, members of the expert committee met to discuss the recommendations regarding the ongoing monkeypox outbreak. According to Reuters, two sources told that members of an expert committee were split on the decision, but the responsibility for making the final decision rests with the director-general Tedros ...
According to a peer-reviewed study published in Nature Communications, the Moderna vaccine increases myocarditis risk in young adults by 44 times. The risk of myocarditis jumps a week after vaccination for both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, according to a French peer-reviewed study (pdf below). For BNT162b2 (Pfizer-BioNTech) and mRNA-1273 (Moderna), the risk of myocarditis after mRNA vaccination was 8 times and 30 times higher than that ...
A peer-reviewed study from researchers in France has concluded that both the experimental Pfizer and Moderna vaccines significantly increase the risk of myocarditis compared to the unvaccinated. While both mRNA therapies were found to be linked to the life-threatening heart condition, the Moderna jabs results were particularly shocking, especially among young adults, as researchers found the risk for myocarditis diagnosis following the Moderna jab was 44 times higher risk for ...
The Moderna and Pfizer/BioNTech Covid-19 vaccines have officially been authorized for emergency use in young children by the US Food and Drug Administration to allow vaccination in children as young as 6 months. The FDA announced the move in a press release on Friday morning. Today, we authorized emergency use of the Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine and the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine for the prevention of COVID-19 to include use ...
On May 16, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) in England published its most recent data on deaths by vaccination status involving deaths with COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 deaths. These deaths occurred between January 1, 2021 and March 31, 2022 in England. For this analysis, ONS defined death as either the COVID-19 virus identified (code U07.1) or the COVID-19 virus not identified (code U07.2) is mentioned on the death certificate. “In contrast to ...
As predicted, just as hysteria about COVID-19 is winding down, another “pandemic” is poised to take its place. This time, it’s monkeypox, an infection that just so happens to mimic many of the symptoms of COVID jab-induced shingles — so much so, the Department of Health in Queensland, Australia, used the same photo to illustrate both infections (the photos have since been removed or updated1). The ...
An 80,000-page cache of Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine documents released by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) sheds light on Pfizer’s extensive vaccine trials in Argentina, including the unusually large size of the trials and the story of a trial participant whose vaccine reaction was “disappeared.” The case of Augusto Roux in Argentina suggests that in at least one instance, a trial participant whose symptoms were determined to be connected to ...
Researchers who found high levels of pharmaceuticals in the blood and tissues of bonefish believe the contamination may be contributing to the decline of not only bonefish, but also more than 125 other species that bonefish feed on. The researchers said their findings raise concerns for Florida’s commercial fisheries and for the health of humans who eat fish. “These findings are truly alarming,” said Jennifer Rehage, Ph.D., the study’s ...
Big Pharma is the nickname given to the world’s vast and influential pharmaceutical industry and its trade group, the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America or PhRMA. Big Pharma and medical device companies make billions of dollars every year selling drugs and devices — including those that were recalled or involved in fraud or product liability lawsuits. The global revenue for pharmaceuticals was over $1 trillion in 2014. But nowhere else in the world do the drug and medical device industries have as much power and make as much money as in the U.S. In fact, Americans spent an all-time high of $457 billion on prescription drugs in 2015. By 2020, it will be $610 billion. Medical devices are also lucrative. The U.S. makes up about half of the world’s share of the market at about $148 billion, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce.
