Read on Twitter
The Content of Our Character vs. Stone-Cold Avarice
In his seminal ”I Have a Dream” speech in front of the Lincoln Memorial on 28 August 1963, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said these words: ”I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where
In his seminal ”I Have a Dream” speech in front of the Lincoln Memorial on 28 August 1963, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said these words: ”I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where
they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.”
I’d like to examine the characters of the co-discoverers of insulin and the character of Big Pharma:
Frederick Banting and Charles Best, co-discoverers of insulin, sold the patent to the
I’d like to examine the characters of the co-discoverers of insulin and the character of Big Pharma:
Frederick Banting and Charles Best, co-discoverers of insulin, sold the patent to the
University of Toronto on March 22, 1922 for only $1, because they wanted it to be universally available.
As of March 22, 2020, ”[p]harmaceutical companies take advantage of loopholes in the U.S. patent system to build thickets of patents around their drugs which will make them
As of March 22, 2020, ”[p]harmaceutical companies take advantage of loopholes in the U.S. patent system to build thickets of patents around their drugs which will make them
last much longer (evergreening). This prevents competition and can keep prices high for decades.” https://www.treehugger.com/health/inventors-insulin-sold-their-patent-buck-why-it-so-expensive.html
Okay, so insulin has been modified chemically: some versions are longer lasting, some take effect more rapidly, most if not all insulin ”is now biosynthetic
Okay, so insulin has been modified chemically: some versions are longer lasting, some take effect more rapidly, most if not all insulin ”is now biosynthetic
recombinant 'human' insulin or its analogues." (Ibid.) The delivery systems are new and improved, too.
But the IDEA of the drug remains essentially the same: a self-administered manufactured hormone used to replace the insulin absent in diabetics. Insulin, produced in the
But the IDEA of the drug remains essentially the same: a self-administered manufactured hormone used to replace the insulin absent in diabetics. Insulin, produced in the
islets of Langerhans in the pancreas (hence ”insulin,” from the Latin ”insula,” island) is a hormone necessary for continued existence. It was initially touted as a ”cure” but it isn’t; diabetics must administer insulin regularly to stay alive and well. https://www.diabetes.org/blog/history-wonderful-thing-we-call-insulin
Banting and Best were scientific researchers whose goal was to improve the lot of mankind. Big Pharma’s goal is to make as much money as possible, literally holding American diabetics hostage to their outrageous yet legal price gouging, figuratively squeezing afflicted persons
via the ”Your Money Or Your Life” philosophy that undergirds their raison d’être: not to improve the lot of diabetic Americans but to make as large a profit as possible for their investors and their high-ranking officers.
The scientists’ character evidenced a concern for the
The scientists’ character evidenced a concern for the
Other, for they themselves weren’t diabetic, nor did they have diabetic loved ones. They did, however, have the curiosity of scientists. They also believed that, as poet John Donne wrote: ”Each man's death diminishes me, / For I am involved in mankind.” (For Whom the Bell Tolls,
1623, http://www.yourdailypoem.com/listpoem.jsp?poem_id=2118)
Big Pharma’s character OTOH is completely Self-centered: the large drug companies and their investors are out to make a killing — I use that word deliberately, for that is exactly what they’re doing, have done, and will continue to do.
Big Pharma’s character OTOH is completely Self-centered: the large drug companies and their investors are out to make a killing — I use that word deliberately, for that is exactly what they’re doing, have done, and will continue to do.
