A Hat-Trick For Pharmaceutical Killing
Never ever write on the same subject twice in a row—unless, of course, it’s a continuum, a reinforcing of the commentary just laid out. Four years ago I wrote about Merck, knocking-off patients with Vioxx. Yesterday it was Pfizer and their apparent disregard for the lives of those who gulp down Celebrex.
Today, what to my wondering eyes should appear, but a piece by Marc Kaufman in the Washington Post about GlaxoSmithKline rolling the dice with asthma prescription drugs. GSK comes up snake-eyes four to five thousand times a year, killing their users. What's that, eleven a day? Incredibly, it’s not a pandemic, not (apparently) as news-worthy as half a dozen bird-flu deaths, but merely business as usual for pharmaceutical companies.
What was it Stalin said? “The death of a single man is a tragedy, the death of thousands is a news item.” So, that’s three news items in a row for American pharmaceutical companies, which qualifies in my book as a pharmaceutical hat-trick.
Are we stupid, or jus…