Extremely Big Pharma - many studies

In 1994 the phrase Big Pharma was invented
Big Pharma has gotten much much BIGger since then

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Fortune 500 company profits in 2002

10 Pharmaceutical companies combined made more than the other 490 companies
$35.9 billion vs $35.7 billion
      Apparently first mentioned in the book The 100-Year Lie

Return on investment for Obamacare lobbying by Big Pharma = $44 profit for every $1 spent

Spent $290 million in lobbying for Obamacare
Expected to increase in Big Pharma profit of $13 billion over a decade

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13+ VitaminDWiki pages have BIG PHARMA in the title

This list is automatically updated

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See also VitaminDWiki

• FDA - many studies 49 as of March 2024
• Off Topic: Pharma Funded 2,400 State Lawmakers' Campaigns in 2020 - July 2021
• Off Topic: FDA advisors have many conflicts of interest
• Off topic: Oncologists paid 350 dollars per patient-month to use less effective and more toxic cancer drugs – Oct 2014
• Off Topic- 100,000 deaths due to prescriptions, 0 due to supplements: Conclusion -Let's regulate supplements
• Cost of US health exceeds the cost of food
• Hepatitis C drug is extremely expensive, why not try Calcidiol (semi-processed vitamin D) - May 2014
  • Vitamin D has been proven to provide better results at perhaps 1/10,000 the price

See also web

• Big Pharma: How the World's Biggest Drug Companies Control Illness - 2006 book
• Pharmaceutical industry WikiPedia
  Outside of the US new drugs must be shown to be cost effective.
  US drugs need only be better than a placebo drug (does not have to show that it is better than a supplement)
  Global spending on prescription drugs topped $954 billion (2011)
  The top ten best-selling drugs of 2013 totaled $75.6 billion in sales
• Big buck, big pharma 2006 video - free
• Why Drugs Cost So Much NYT Jan 2014
  Laws force US insurance companies to pay for drugs, no matter how expensive or little benefit
  US laws should change to that of Europe - where they get 97% of thedrugs and 1/2 the price

Doctors are still given extremely little nutrition & supplement instruction
60% of med schools surveyed said in 2006 that they teach less than 25 hours of Nutrition and Life-Style
    Note: in 1985 25 hours was the recommended minimum - 60% not even achieving the minimum!
Ref: Adams, Kelly et al. 2006. Status of nutrition education in medical schools. American Society for Clinical Nutrition.
   Update 2024 - ZERO hours on nutrition in many medical colleges

"Extremely Big Pharma" was not found by Google Search - this appears to be the first use of the phrase.

The goal of the Big Pharma is to indefinitely "manage" disease
   curing a disease would destroy the market (Talk about a perverse incentive structure).

The prime directive of any individual or institution is self-preservation

Big Pharma has made it illegal to claim that a supplement can treat a disease FDA Website
". . a product sold as a dietary supplement and promoted on its label or in labeling* as a treatment, prevention or cure for a specific disease or condition would be considered an unapproved- - and thus illegal - drug"

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Number of existing drugs which have increased in cost by 2X in a year

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Big Pharma's Favorite Prescription: Higher Prices Bloomberg May 2014

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Revenue of just 2 of Extremely Big Pharma companies = Revenue of all Illegal drugs in US

Illegal drug revenue: US annual $10 Billion RAND
Big Pharma Revenue Wikipedia

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Deaths due to Big Pharma exceed that from illegal drugs

Drug-Induced Deaths 40,000, Illicit Drugs 17,000

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Emergency Room visits due to Big Pharma = 3X of Illicit drugs

1,400,000 Emergency Room visits were related to pharmaceuticals. CDC 2011
440,000 Illicit drugs

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400% increase in price of generic medications in US in one year (1200 drugs)

Soaring Prices Of Generic Drugs, Authorities Warned Nov 2014
Examples from US Congressional study

• Two tablets of Albuterol Sulfate (asthma) $11. ==> $434.
• Bottle Doxycycline Hyclate (antibiotic) $20 ==> $1,849.
• Chairman of committee: "Drug companies have seen the chance to make a ton of cash and they are seizing that opportunity. This is gluttony at work in the pharmaceutical business”.

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Congress considering buying drugs from Canada NYT Nov 24, 2014

Drug	Generic US	Branded Canada
digoxin 90 day supply	$187	$24
IBD	$1,625	$156
pravastatin (Cholesterol) 3 month	$230	$32

• "The idea of allowing Americans to import drugs from Canada or other developed countries is strongly opposed by the powerful United States pharmaceutical industry"
• "Last fall, a new law in Maine began allowing residents to mail order prescription medicines from licensed pharmacies in Canada, Britain, Australia and New Zealand"

Observation by VitaminDWiki
US laws changed recently - Each drug company no longer has any competition and no longer has to justify their prices.
The US law states, for example, that Medicare is not allowed to look for a lower price for a drug inside nor outside of the US.
Doubt that the international price of drugs went up by even 20% during that same time period.

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760X return on investment for lobbying congress Propublica Dec 2014

Automotive, McDonalds, Banks got far bigger return on lobbying investment than did BigPharma