Corporate Abuse: Pharmaceuticals
Much of what follows is due to the assiduous fact uncovering efforts of Randy Kehler and his pamphlet titled Political Bribery in the United States.
Kehler writes about an 80 year old woman named Nishi Martin who was employed as a nurse in DC for 35 years. At retirement she was afflicted with high blood pressure, diabetes, and bad cholesterol. He points out that Nisha and her husband, living on fixed income, spend circa $400 per month on prescription drugs which was close to one third of their limited income.
Kehler also laments the fact that companies like Pfizer and Merck should be paying around 35% in federal income tax, but pay accountants to to drop that rate down to around 16%. These legal drug pushers also received 10 billion dollars in tax breaks due to their death grip on lawmakers including Republican Bill Thomas who received 93 thousand dollars in campaign contributions from the pharmaceutical industry!
Thomas and his colleagues have fought hard to prevent Medicare coverage of prescription drugs. Do these people sound like they have the best interests of the elderly or poor population in our great but declining country?
Note that this article did not even plumb the depths of the over-billing abuse practiced by some drug companies. Some of them still try in a tightly regulated industry. They know that an infirmed elderly citizen might not catch billing fraud. God how many people have been ripped off and never knew it!
Kehler writes about an 80 year old woman named Nishi Martin who was employed as a nurse in DC for 35 years. At retirement she was afflicted with high blood pressure, diabetes, and bad cholesterol. He points out that Nisha and her husband, living on fixed income, spend circa $400 per month on prescription drugs which was close to one third of their limited income.
Kehler also laments the fact that companies like Pfizer and Merck should be paying around 35% in federal income tax, but pay accountants to to drop that rate down to around 16%. These legal drug pushers also received 10 billion dollars in tax breaks due to their death grip on lawmakers including Republican Bill Thomas who received 93 thousand dollars in campaign contributions from the pharmaceutical industry!
Thomas and his colleagues have fought hard to prevent Medicare coverage of prescription drugs. Do these people sound like they have the best interests of the elderly or poor population in our great but declining country?
Note that this article did not even plumb the depths of the over-billing abuse practiced by some drug companies. Some of them still try in a tightly regulated industry. They know that an infirmed elderly citizen might not catch billing fraud. God how many people have been ripped off and never knew it!
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