Western Medicine vs Eastern Medicine
The other night I was talking to a doctor friend who is really into Chakra points, Chinese Traditional medicine and Acupuncture. I can only attest to the outstandingly good effect that Acupuncture had on me (when Western medicine failed miserably) years ago. Except for using powdered Rhinoceros horn[}:)], whenever I can find it ... I have no experience/interest in Eastern medicine.
However, it got me thinking that the people with the highest disposable income in the west are clamoring to copy these facets of Eastern medicine, and at the same time the east (China and India) are mass producing counterfeit Western medicine to give to the people with the lowest disposable incomes who have given up on Eastern Medicine.
... what a great time to live!
[:D]
However, it got me thinking that the people with the highest disposable income in the west are clamoring to copy these facets of Eastern medicine, and at the same time the east (China and India) are mass producing counterfeit Western medicine to give to the people with the lowest disposable incomes who have given up on Eastern Medicine.
... what a great time to live!
[:D]
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Both I'm sure have good points and bad. Now if one could take the positive from each.... nah, that would never work. Not enough profit in actually healing diseases. [B)] 0 -
Grass is always greener on the other side.
I've had some extremely positive experience with homeopathic medicine.0 -
quote:Not enough profit in actually healing diseases.
That's true - with a few exceptions - there just isn't that nice 569,958% mark up - Xanax 1 mg, $0.024 to produce and currently sells for $136.79 (how utterly cool is THAT!) - on Chinese and Indian herbs ... like there is on some of the popular Western drugs.
[:D]
http://www.fdastudy.com/drug_profits.htm
"To ensure their continued extremely high profitability, in the second quarter of 2004 Pfizer deliberately cut off supplies to Canadian sources who re-imported lower priced medications to low income U.S. seniors. After cutting off American seniors' , on July 21, 2004, Reuters News reported that Pfizer, Inc., the world's largest drug company, posted a second quarter net profit of $2.86 billion. By forcing and creating an artificial international monopoly specifically based on maintaining higher U.S. prices and gouging Americans, the rich get richer!
There is little hope for change. Unfortunately, there are no more American champions available to ride up on a white horse and save the day. America's poor, sick, disabled and elderly have been ignored, abandoned and discarded because the pharmaceutical manufacturers have paid off most of the Washington politicians and top level FDA bureaucrats to stand by and do nothing. It is a sad day in American history."
... more Rape of Americans by politicians.0 -
quote:Originally posted by zipperzap
quote:Not enough profit in actually healing diseases.
That's true - with a few exceptions - there just isn't that nice 569,958% mark up - Xanax 1 mg, $0.024 to produce and currently sells for $136.79 (how utterly cool is THAT!) - on Chinese and Indian herbs ... like there is on some of the popular Western drugs.
[:D]
http://www.fdastudy.com/drug_profits.htm
"To ensure their continued extremely high profitability, in the second quarter of 2004 Pfizer deliberately cut off supplies to Canadian sources who re-imported lower priced medications to low income U.S. seniors. After cutting off American seniors' , on July 21, 2004, Reuters News reported that Pfizer, Inc., the world's largest drug company, posted a second quarter net profit of $2.86 billion. By forcing and creating an artificial international monopoly specifically based on maintaining higher U.S. prices and gouging Americans, the rich get richer!
There is little hope for change. Unfortunately, there are no more American champions available to ride up on a white horse and save the day. America's poor, sick, disabled and elderly have been ignored, abandoned and discarded because the pharmaceutical manufacturers have paid off most of the Washington politicians and top level FDA bureaucrats to stand by and do nothing. It is a sad day in American history."
... more Rape of Americans by politicians.
Gotta pay for R&D.
1 dollar for the X, 99 dollars for knowing where to put it.0 -
quote:Originally posted by zipperzap
quote:Not enough profit in actually healing diseases.
That's true - with a few exceptions - there just isn't that nice 569,958% mark up - Xanax 1 mg, $0.024 to produce and currently sells for $136.79 (how utterly cool is THAT!) - on Chinese and Indian herbs ... like there is on some of the popular Western drugs.
[:D]
http://www.fdastudy.com/drug_profits.htm
To be fair though, some of the exuberant mark up on pharmaceuticals does go to recapture the investment made in the R&D process of developing the drug. Unfortunately the goal was never to find a cure, but rather just a treatment. The pharms can't spend that kind of $$ finding a cure, only to put themselves out of business. [xx(]0 -
People spend money on Feng Shui too, but that only means there is one born every minute, just like P.T. Barnum said. 0 -
There must be some balance between treatments. I will go to a Native American medicine man before I would even think of going to a "white" doctor for some serious ailments, but "white" doctors are best for broken bones, and the like. Too bad the two worlds of medicine people won't work together. 0 -
A guy in our church has great results with acupuncture for pain relief after good old pain pills did nothing for him but knock him out.
As far as prices, FIL got a scrip for some new cancer med today. Wanna guess what it cost for a 30-day supply? $7800! And, of course, insurance won't cover it. [:(] Really bad thing is he can probably go to Canada and get it for $12. Now tell me something doesn't HAVE to be done to the "best medical system in the world!"0 -
when I was in the pharmaceutical biz almost 10 years ago, it was common knowledge that any new drug would cost, roughly, 500 million dollars and take 5 years to develop, which includes bunny testing and 4 stages of clinical trials with people.
manufacturing any over-the counter (OTC) pharmaceutical is exhorbitantly expensive, because that's the most highly regualted industry there is, next to sterile injectable pharmaceuticals. everything is scrutinized, recorded and audited. everything from how the facility is constructed down to, literally, what you write in the notebooks for everything you have done.
it's only good on the market for about 7 years before other mfrs start making generic equivalents, which drastically cut into their profit margin.
so you can see there is a huge investment and operating costs.
also, knowing the schmuckulas that run such operations and the vermin that work there, lemme guarantee you they aren't philanthropists. it's all about the money.
as far as eastern medicine goes (seperate topic here) it's the result of about 5000+ years of trial and error, and what's fascinating to me is, reading some of the ancient texts, just how smart they were back then. they didn't know anywhere near as much as we do about "the human body" as regards modern physiology, but they had an astounding level of sophistication in their ideas about how things work in the human body, and how the rest of the universe affects it. they had it goin' on. it's interesting reading.
if you read "The Yellow Emperor's Classic On Medicine", it's obvious how skillful regular doctors were and how stupendously wise the best doctors must have been. they were worthy... even if us modern knotheads would say they were on the wrong track.0 -
Yes, I do find it interesting.
No, I don't really fault any business that produces a second quarter NET profit of $2.86 billion.
What I do have a problem with is that drug companies work VERY HARD with OUR
voted in representatives to maintain a monopoly that economically RAPES it's own
elderly, young and poor Americans ... 'allowing' US to subsidize Europe and the
rest of the world while telling us how 'tough it is' out there.
... the sad thing is ... most Americans who decry most other monopolies (for some
unexplainable reason) bend ever lower to get it in the rear.
... then again, I suppose I don't get a lot of stuff that's being done to America.
I'm glad that 'I'm short' and won't have to witness what is most assuredly coming for our
children and grandchildren.0 -
Zipper, we often disagree, but you are dead center on this one amigo.[^] I do wish you were not![:(] 0 -
Agreed. 0
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