(no subject)

[electricland]

In this week's BMJ: researchers consider U.S. government and pharmaceutical manufacturers' claims that foreign countries are getting a free ride on R&D and that's why their drug prices are so much lower, say "Uh, no".

Also! Illustrated with a random picture of a warthog! Which may be a subtle message of some kind. Or not.

Appearances to the contrary, I don't (completely) despise Big Pharma. But they do try on an awful lot of shit, and it's nice to see them called on it once in a while.

Comments

[mrs-cake.livejournal.com]

What a load of tosh. I agree, it's nice for someone to open up the can of worms every now and then. Worms need to breathe, after all. And Big Pharma must be told off. Occasionally.

What's that warthog doing there? Do you think maybe paracetamol is made out of warthog hide? The BMJ have a serious problem. Hey, do you think they need a content/web editor? ;)

[lietya.livejournal.com]

That's an excellent article, particularly as I've seen that particular "we subsidize them" trope cropping up a lot lately. (Partly because of the GM-cutting-benefits thing - when it comes up that Japanese/German companies are better off because they don't have to cover health insurance for workers, the counter is always that stuff is so expensive here because "they're getting a partial ride off of us and our R&D.")

[metawidget]

I think it's the pretty birds on the warthog that represent the "freeloading rest of the world."

This coming from a government that un-signs or just ignores treaties while expecting the rest of the world to do its part (or get invaded... if they feel like it) as declared in the same agreements.