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The Family Making Billions from the Opioid Crisis

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Re: The Family Making Billions from the Opioid Crisis

#191

Post by quuquuquu »

ithinkinstereo wrote: post #59
joemag wrote: post #27

Aren’t the doctors to blame for this as well? It always surprised me how quickly and easily they prescribe serious painkillers. A few years ago I had a tooth pulled, and the doctor gave me prescription painkiller. In the end, I ended up using regular ibuprofen, and that was more than enough. I wonder how much of this comes pharmaceutical sales reps pressuring the doctors to use their medicine. That whole system seems…

There's rampant corruption in healthcare, even after the Sunshine act passed into law in 2010. Common methods include: - Paid "speeches" - Paid surveys - "Training/Education" retreats at swanky resorts Also look into Outcome Health, a newly minted "unicorn" based out of Chicago. Their marketing spin is about how their mission is to help patients receive the most optimal treatments and "outcomes", but in reality the w…

"Improving patient outcomes" is quite possibly the most disgusting, 1984-esque buzzphrase right now.

It's worded so that like, "who could be against that?" is what anyone would think.

So some shady ads pushing startup is out there trying to handwave how they're making everyones life better and improving outcomes, despite not providing any innovation.

It would be like saying my meth dealer is improving my life outcome because I have more energy now.

Re: The Family Making Billions from the Opioid Crisis

#192

Post by enraged_camel »

erasmuse wrote: post #162
enraged_camel wrote: post #135

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>>and at worst produced for the need for sugar by tens of thousands of people. I think you mean the want for sugar. Because humans don't need sugar.

What should humans have instead of sugar?

Complex carbs?

Re: The Family Making Billions from the Opioid Crisis

#193

Post by sooheon »

alkonaut wrote: post #146
andreasgonewild wrote: post #144

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They're tested by the same psychos that created the drugs and their bought fan club, otherwise things like Oxy would never have made it to market. It's worth repeating, big pharma is all about creating return customers; nothing that comes out of that mess is ever going to solve problems.

If it was the case that these people somehow rigged the testing to make it seem less harmful (which isn't that far fetched), then that would be the scandal. But it isn't. This is known, even in the US. This thing is known to be this addictive. That's basically only prescribed in exceptional cases elsewhere in the world. Basically it's not prescribed to otherwise healthy people who only suffer from pain (back pains, s…

So what does that say about the medical practitioners on the front lines prescribing this shit at these insane levels? Hippocratic oath means nothing? Kickbacks from the pharma companies too sweet to ignore?

Re: The Family Making Billions from the Opioid Crisis

#194

Post by sooheon »

alkonaut wrote: post #141
mgkimsal wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

about 5-6 years ago, my wife had a small eye problem and we went to a local urgent care clinic. resolved the problem, but it was still inflamed and had some discomfort. the physician offered to write a prescription for either oxy or hydrocodone. (I can't remember which). "No, I'll be OK" my wife said. "Well, here, take this anyway", and she gave us a prescription for... 7 days of the stuff (IIRC). 2 years ago, both u…

So basically a doctor prescribed a hugely addictive opioid for something described as "discomfort". That shouldn't just mean you lose your license it should mean you go to jail.

Worse than literal drug dealers, because they took the Hippocratic oath and have a much more informed understanding of addiction and its repercussions.

Re: The Family Making Billions from the Opioid Crisis

#195

Post by valuearb »

sumedh wrote: post #188
seem_2211 wrote: post #181

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Warren Buffett has made his money through a few businesses that aren't quite in line with his folksy image. For example, his Mobile Home Empire: https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/times-watchdog/min... empire-clayton-homes/ Berkshire Hathaway have the largest single stake in Wells Fargo: https://www.bloomberg.com/gadfly/articles/2017-10-03/wells-f... And here's a charming bit about one of his Kidney related in…

A follow up question would be, is he personally running the companies which you have mentioned and doing those "crimes" or covering up for them or is it the people who are actually running those companies doing it?

His job is to assess the long term value of the business, part of that is an evaluation of the content of managements character. He's bought at least a hundred businesses, and invested in hundreds of public companies. He's proven a great judge of character, but that doesn't make him perfect.

Clayton Homes makes mobile homes, which are super cheap homes for low income people. Their customers are poor credit risks and default frequently, so Clayton compensates by charging high interest rates.

So is Clayton preying on their desire to have a home?

Or is Clayton offering people who can't afford traditional homes the opportunity to have their own?

Should their customers instead save their money for many more years till they are able to afford a traditional home and improve their a credit score to get a better loan?

Critics of Clayton greatly over-simplify the ethics of its business and how it runs it.

Re: The Family Making Billions from the Opioid Crisis

#196

Post by hn_throwaway_99 »

valuearb wrote: post #176
EvanAnderson wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ick! This reinforces my belief that direct-to-consumer advertising of prescription drugs should be illegal.

As disgusting as this story is, freedom of speech isn't a freedom if it magically disappears because a collection of people say it instead of a single person. I'd much rather have a raucous marketplace of ideas and opinions that let people choose for themselves, over having the government make their medical decisions. For example, thousands of deaths have been attributed to the tough drug approval requirements in the…

Let's not confuse the issue by taking about freedom of speech, at least without acknowledging that the rules for commercial speech have always been different (and much stricter).

I don't really know anyone who thinks "Remember the good old days when cigarette ads were on TV?" (that was a thing). Prescription ads on TV are a relatively recent thing anyway (really 1995 in the US), one in which a powerful lobbying group used their money and influence to help write the rules.

Re: The Family Making Billions from the Opioid Crisis

#197

Post by valuearb »

maskedSlacker wrote: post #185
valuearb wrote: post #177

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The idea that the patient should be influencing their own treatment decisions is absurd?

The idea that the patient should be influencing treatment BASED ON WHAT THEY SAW ON TV is absurd. It's like you didn't even read what you responded to. What is this, reddit?

How do you think people get informed? Do you really think that advertising isn't useful to informing people? Do you really think as many patients would find out about viable treatments for their conditions if you ban advertising?

Advertising isn't hypnosis. People know not to take claims at face value and if they don't, US medical ads are full of disclaimers and warnings. And once you see an ad for a treatment, you have many opportunities to research it, including by discussing it with your doctor.

Do you really think doctors alone should decide your treatment?

My mother in law had terminal brain cancer. She could not eat due nausea from her chemotherapy. I accompanied her on a visit to her doctor. We told him the anti-nausea prescription wasn't working, and I asked why he didn't prescribe her medicinal marijuana. He angrily rejected it as a viable treatment and huffily said he'd change her prescription to a different anti-nausea medication. Shortly later she went on the last trip of her life, to Arizona for some sun and relaxation, but her nausea was so bad that she threw up in the airport and had to return home, where she died in bed a few months later, a 60 lb bundle of bones from barely eating for months on end.

If you want to be protected from "advertising", change the channel. I don't, so stop trying to "protect" me by restricting my right to listen to other viewpoints.

Re: The Family Making Billions from the Opioid Crisis

#198

Post by rapind »

Nomentatus wrote: post #158
nsedlet wrote: post #18

The Sacklers have ingratiated themselves at the highest levels of society using a fortune that's at best built on a product of dubious value, and at worst obtained at the cost of the lives of tens of thousands of people. I think this piece points to a big problem: we worship money and those that accumulate it, and often ignore the question of how much societal value was created in exchange for it. The least we can co…

Money can travel - your reputation, not so much. China has a solution, a social score that travels with you everywhere. Dystopian, but it could cure that worship of money thing.

Meh. Don't like your reputation? Just sift through the Equifax dump and pick a new one.

Re: The Family Making Billions from the Opioid Crisis

#199

Post by markdown »

hiyer wrote: post #183
EvanAnderson wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ick! This reinforces my belief that direct-to-consumer advertising of prescription drugs should be illegal.

It is illegal in India. As a result, in all my life here I cannot recall seeing ads for any medicine stronger than aspirin.

AFAIK illegal everywhere in the world except USA and oddly, New Zealand.

Re: The Family Making Billions from the Opioid Crisis

#200

Post by biaachmonkie »

erasmuse wrote: post #162
enraged_camel wrote: post #135

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>>and at worst produced for the need for sugar by tens of thousands of people. I think you mean the want for sugar. Because humans don't need sugar.

What should humans have instead of sugar?

Fat, Animal fat, Plant fat. Fat and a little bit of protein.

There is no dietary need for sugar or carbohydrates at all, your body is capable of making the tiny amount it needs through the process of gluconeogenesis. Research the Ketogenic diet.

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