Now that the “national emergency” is over, big Pharma seeks to cash in on the fact that we – you and I – paid for the basic research on Covid drugs, not to mention 210 others. Much of the basic research came from the National Institutes of Health, and now drug companies, such as Moderna, want to increase the cost from $30 to $130 per dose.
This was one issue that both Republicans and Democrats were furious about. This week the Senate had hearings on this matter noting that NIH had invested over $2 billion in work on the Covid vaccine. Big Pharma just takes the research, which is in the public domain and uses it to advance their goal of obscene profits.
The problem is that there have never been conditions tied to the use of NIH research. Moderna’s CEO said prices of vaccines were tied to savings in shorter hospital stays. There’s an eight letter unprintable euphemism for that nonsense. It’s time to rein in Big Pharma. People die because they cannot afford certain vaccines. Don’t you think it’s time to create a real system of national health care?
Prayer for the Day
God of all times and all places, we struggle to understand your will,
For sometimes we find ourselves in the desert of confusion,
Searching for water, we pray to leave the barren wastes
And to find the springs of understanding.
Refresh our lives with the water that comes from you,
As we try to live as faithful witnesses of your word,
In the name of him who was your most faithful witness,
Even Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen.
Thoughts for the Day
A 400% price increase is preposterous, especially when you’ve been given all this government largess.
- Mike Braun, Republican Senator from Indiana
Moderna wasn’t the primary inventor of the three key scientific features of the vaccine, with the federal government providing the company with the specific mRNA sequence used in the vaccine – it costs just $3 to make
- Christopher Morten, Assoc. Prof law, Columbia University
Do not drag me away with the wicked, with those who are workers of evil,
Who speak peace with their neighbors while mischief is in their hearts.
Repay tem according to their work, and according to the evil of their deeds;
Repay them according to the work of their hands; render them their due reward.
Psalm 28: 3-4