Thursday, March 21, 2013
Posted in
Life
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As I've said in other posts, I'm in my 60's now. Over the years I've come to hate the drug company Pfizer. The main reason is that Pfizer is all about money and profits, or at least it seems so to me. But before I talk about that, let me start at the beginning.
Working at Pfizer
My dislike for the company started in the 1970's when I worked for Pfizer for a couple days as a temp. I was there with several other temps, and we were working on a project involving hormones given to cattle (growth hormones, I believe, which were made by Pfizer). I remember that we were stuffing envelopes, but I don't remember much more than that. I believe that the federal government had restricted the use of hormones in cattle, but I don't remember exactly. Well, the executive who gave us our instructions went into a rant about the federal government and about how hormones in cattle were perfectly safe. As an employee who needed my paycheck, I had to sit there and listen to it. I had already read about the use of hormones in beef, and I didn't like the idea of it, but I had to stay quiet. Listening to that executive's rant was so unpleasant that I never went back to the company.
Revolution
About six years ago I adopted two cats from a neighbor who died. I let the cats outside every day, so I had to give them drugs to kill fleas and other parasites they might get. The drug I settled on was Revolution for Cats, which is made by Pfizer. When I first started buying it, I paid about $10 per dose. (That's a lot, in my opinion, even though doses are given once a month.) Last year, one of the cats died and I gave the other one away. By that time (five years after I adopted them), Revolution cost $15 a dose. Today, one year later, it costs $17 a dose. So that's a 70% increase in 6 years. If that's not greed, I don't know what is.
[Note: Since writing this, I've found another supplier selling Revolution for less than $11 per dose. Revolution is available from Australia without a prescription.]
Levoxyl
[Revised in 2015] I used to take the thyroid drug Levoxyl, which was originally made by King Pharmaceutical. King Pharmaceutical was purchased by Pfizer in 2010. Immediately, Pfizer raised the price of Levoxyl several times, and then they stopped manufacturing it altogether. Thyroid drugs aren't like other drugs; there are significant differences from one brand to the next. Levoxyl suited me well, much better than Synthroid, the leading brand. Obviously, Pfizer discontinued Levoxyl because it didn't bring in enough profits. Profits, profits, profits; money, money, money. That's what Pfizer is all about.
PBS
Seven or eight years ago, before I left New York City, the local PBS station (WNET) made a promotional deal with Pfizer in the which the volunteers and employees who appeared on TV during fund-raising events would wear Pfizer sweatshirts. In other words, when a viewer would turn on channel 13 during a fund-raising telethon, everyone on the stage -- emcees and phone-bank operators -- would be wearing sweatshirts with "Pfizer" emblazoned on them. Public television is supposed to be a non-profit public service, and to see such blatant promotion of a brand on their station was horrifying to me. It made me angry at both the station and at Pfizer. The station should have known how some of their viewers would feel to see them promoting a brand, and Pfizer should have had the sense to respect the independence and reputation of public television.
Around that time, WNET was also running commercials for sugary cereals and snacks during the morning children's programs. I never contributed money to them again.
[Note: It is now September, 2016. Out of curiosity I did some research on the internet. It appears that WNET has hired a slew of Pfizer executives. As far as I'm concerned, WNET has no credibility any more.]
Kelo
Pfizer was behind the Supreme Court's Kelo decision, the infamous decision which basically said that any rich developer could snatch your land for their project as long as they could get the city council to go along with them. In other words, Pfizer was going to occupy part of the "business park" that was going to be constructed (but which was never constructed, even though 90 homes were destroyed for it). The Kelo decision put everyone's property at risk throughout the country.
Illegal Activities
Pfizer has a history of promoting their drugs for off-label uses, which is illegal. On four different occasions they have paid huge fines to the federal government. However, the profits they make from the illegal promotions exceed the size of the fines, so they seem willing to keep doing it. It makes you wonder what kind of company they are that they are so willing to flout the law.
Gouging Americans
Finally, let's not forget that Pfizer charges more money for their drugs in America than they charge in other countries. I'm not aware of all the economic, political and social reasons for this, but it's a well-documented fact. Part of it has to do with the drug bill that passed during the second Bush administration, which prevents Medicare from negotiating drug prices with drug companies, and which makes it illegal for Americans to get their prescriptions filled in other countries. In my opinion there is something terribly unpatriotic about an American company that charges the highest prices in their own country.
Working at Pfizer
My dislike for the company started in the 1970's when I worked for Pfizer for a couple days as a temp. I was there with several other temps, and we were working on a project involving hormones given to cattle (growth hormones, I believe, which were made by Pfizer). I remember that we were stuffing envelopes, but I don't remember much more than that. I believe that the federal government had restricted the use of hormones in cattle, but I don't remember exactly. Well, the executive who gave us our instructions went into a rant about the federal government and about how hormones in cattle were perfectly safe. As an employee who needed my paycheck, I had to sit there and listen to it. I had already read about the use of hormones in beef, and I didn't like the idea of it, but I had to stay quiet. Listening to that executive's rant was so unpleasant that I never went back to the company.
Revolution
About six years ago I adopted two cats from a neighbor who died. I let the cats outside every day, so I had to give them drugs to kill fleas and other parasites they might get. The drug I settled on was Revolution for Cats, which is made by Pfizer. When I first started buying it, I paid about $10 per dose. (That's a lot, in my opinion, even though doses are given once a month.) Last year, one of the cats died and I gave the other one away. By that time (five years after I adopted them), Revolution cost $15 a dose. Today, one year later, it costs $17 a dose. So that's a 70% increase in 6 years. If that's not greed, I don't know what is.
[Note: Since writing this, I've found another supplier selling Revolution for less than $11 per dose. Revolution is available from Australia without a prescription.]
Levoxyl
[Revised in 2015] I used to take the thyroid drug Levoxyl, which was originally made by King Pharmaceutical. King Pharmaceutical was purchased by Pfizer in 2010. Immediately, Pfizer raised the price of Levoxyl several times, and then they stopped manufacturing it altogether. Thyroid drugs aren't like other drugs; there are significant differences from one brand to the next. Levoxyl suited me well, much better than Synthroid, the leading brand. Obviously, Pfizer discontinued Levoxyl because it didn't bring in enough profits. Profits, profits, profits; money, money, money. That's what Pfizer is all about.
PBS
Seven or eight years ago, before I left New York City, the local PBS station (WNET) made a promotional deal with Pfizer in the which the volunteers and employees who appeared on TV during fund-raising events would wear Pfizer sweatshirts. In other words, when a viewer would turn on channel 13 during a fund-raising telethon, everyone on the stage -- emcees and phone-bank operators -- would be wearing sweatshirts with "Pfizer" emblazoned on them. Public television is supposed to be a non-profit public service, and to see such blatant promotion of a brand on their station was horrifying to me. It made me angry at both the station and at Pfizer. The station should have known how some of their viewers would feel to see them promoting a brand, and Pfizer should have had the sense to respect the independence and reputation of public television.
Around that time, WNET was also running commercials for sugary cereals and snacks during the morning children's programs. I never contributed money to them again.
[Note: It is now September, 2016. Out of curiosity I did some research on the internet. It appears that WNET has hired a slew of Pfizer executives. As far as I'm concerned, WNET has no credibility any more.]
Kelo
Pfizer was behind the Supreme Court's Kelo decision, the infamous decision which basically said that any rich developer could snatch your land for their project as long as they could get the city council to go along with them. In other words, Pfizer was going to occupy part of the "business park" that was going to be constructed (but which was never constructed, even though 90 homes were destroyed for it). The Kelo decision put everyone's property at risk throughout the country.
Illegal Activities
Pfizer has a history of promoting their drugs for off-label uses, which is illegal. On four different occasions they have paid huge fines to the federal government. However, the profits they make from the illegal promotions exceed the size of the fines, so they seem willing to keep doing it. It makes you wonder what kind of company they are that they are so willing to flout the law.
Gouging Americans
Finally, let's not forget that Pfizer charges more money for their drugs in America than they charge in other countries. I'm not aware of all the economic, political and social reasons for this, but it's a well-documented fact. Part of it has to do with the drug bill that passed during the second Bush administration, which prevents Medicare from negotiating drug prices with drug companies, and which makes it illegal for Americans to get their prescriptions filled in other countries. In my opinion there is something terribly unpatriotic about an American company that charges the highest prices in their own country.
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