Insistent Phrma gonna get you!

On a visit to WebMD today, the home page features this photo and caption:

Snoring Keeping You Up? Find out if your partner's sleep problems could be affecting your health.

Wow! She looks really annoyed...troubled. She should really do something about that.

Then again, maybe she's not worried about her husband's snoring. Maybe she's really worried about a terminal disease she has, or a loved one has, that can't be cured.

Oh well. Ce la vie. At least the pharmaceutical companies have found drugs to help shut up those obnoxious snorers. And then there's that medication you can take to cure that unsightly toe fungus. Yuck! No open shoes in your funeral. Oh yeah, but it'll cost you an arm and a leg, so it's half a dozen of one, half a dozen of the other.

You might be dying, but at least you'll look great and you'll be well rested.

The WebMD article had a disclaimer at the top which stated that:

This content was created by WebMD under its sole editorial control and is brought to you by Sepracor.

Really? Sole editorial control? The questionnaire readers can complete provides only one remedy (sur-priiize!): Sepracor. I guess "sole editorial control" means that the editors make "sole" decisions about what issues they'll present front and center after their sponsors' checks clear.

On the topic of expensive drugs people need to live healthier lives, or to just survive, and what the government's doing to help, if you head over to the Phrma (pronounced "pharma") web site (not that you would), you can see good old boy and former Representative Billy Tauzin (R-LA), who pushed through the Medicare prescription drug bill great pharmaceutical company giveaway of 2003, pressing the flesh with a well-screened, or well paid, cadre of supposed supporters. Oh...that's funny...now he's the President and CEO of Phrma.

That drug company giveaway will cost the American taxpayer $1.2 trillion over the next ten years, according to the Medicare chief, Mark McClellan. That's a long shot from the less than $400 billion that Republicans touted before the bill's passage (with the extraordinary tactic of Republican arm-twisting going on into the long hours of the night until they could secure enough votes for passage).

Oh yeah, there's one more thing! Remember how the bill bans the government (which could be a bulk purchaser) from negotiating with drug companies for LOWER DRUG PRICES?!! Gosh no. We couldn't have THAT! Why, there'd be a run on toe fungus medication!

Oh wait, there's still MORE!! Does everyone remember how, before the November election, Geeduhbya said he would consider allowing drug importation? Heard anything about that since? That's right, importing drugs from Canada is STILL illegal, and if you work for the drug industry, you better keep your mouth shut if you think it's a good idea.

By the way, in case you didn't get the title, that's a reference to John Lennon. We miss you so!