Covid, Opioids, Healthcare: How the Pharmaceutical Industry Poisons Society

    In November of 2020 the United States government granted 1.95 billion dollars to Pfizer for Covid vaccine research and testing, according to the New York Times. This billion dollar handout was also given to pressure Pfizer to not only develop an inoculation for Covid but to also expedite the process.  Donald Trump was up against the proverbial clock to rush out a vaccine months before the election and succeeded in writing blank checks to a number of other pharmaceutical companies. As we now know, the vaccinations weren't quite ready by November and Trump was easily defeated by Joe Biden. On December 14, 2020 the first non-clinical covid vaccine injection was given to a nurse in New York City ( date courtesy of wsj.com). Although the rollout for these shots happened in less than a year, an absurdly ambitious amount of time, most people were overly optimistic about the chances for success. 

    The calendar flipped to 2021, a new president was in the white house and it seemed by the early spring society was ready for a new kind of normalcy.  On May 24th in New Jersey the first covid 19 restrictions were lifted statewide. By early summer time tens of thousands filled baseball stadiums, travel bans were canceled and the main stream media, in accordance with government, were pushing the implementation of voluntary  vaccinations. Percentage rates for success with Pfizer and Moderna were originally stated to be in the mid to high 90 percentile. 

   Fast forward to late August 2021, despite the accessibility of the vaccinations 100,000 new covid induced hospitalizations were counted throughout the United States, which was the highest since January of 2021( aljazeera.com). Most were quick to blame it on the new delta variant but it seems these accelerated vaccinations are becoming less effective. Perhaps, many in the CDC and other government agencies jumped the gun with their initial optimism. 

  Even the origins of  covid 19 are now coming into question. Dr. Fauci and others are facing a potential congressional hearing over the role the National Institute of Allegry and Infectious Diseases (NIH) could have played in the outbreak. Dr. Fauci was grilled by Senator Rand Paul over a possible "gain of function" which looks to increase transmissionibilty or pathogenesis in order to study diseases. That means tests that had been conducted within the Wuhan Institute of Virology may have increased the contagion of the coronavirus. Could this pandemic have been caused by for-profit pharmaceutical companies looking to benefit financially? If so, this may very well have been a man made catastrophe, making it the most consequential act of medical malpractice in the history of mankind. 

   The pharmaceutical industry has poisoned our society more than any other entity over the passed two decades. Whether it be the opioid epidemic, which has killed an estimated 800,000 plus people since 1999 (drugabuse.gov). Purdue Pharma, piloted by the now notorious Sackler Brothers first introduced a slow released, and much more potent form of percocet, oxycontin, in 1996( newyorker.com). This heavily addictive opiate was immediately a hit with "pill mills" all over the United States. According to Forbes magazine, by 2015 the Sacklers were listed as the richest family in the United States. By 2019, the Southern District of New York, along with 500 other cities and counties levied a massive lawsuit against the Sackler owned, Purdue Pharma ( theguardian.com). 

   The Sackler Brothers indifference towards the fact their company knowingly produced billions of heavily addictive narcotics strictly for profit is the most callous example of the pharmaceutical industry poisoning society. They certainly weren't alone, but the 4.5 billion dollar settlement Purdue Pharma agreed to pay was the most highly publicized legal action that came forth as a result of the opioid crisis(washingtonpost.com). 

   Whether it be the controversy and 6 million plus deaths from covid 19 ( healthdata.org), or the still burgeoning crisis of opiate addiction, it seems the pharmaceutical industry is hurting society more than helping. Johnson and Johnson shouldn't have been granted over 1 billion dollars for covid research when they were facing a 2.4 billion lawsuit over their cancer causing talc powder ( biospace.com). Moderna, another beneficiary of covid monies, were struggling with massive debt prior to January of 2020 are now worth upwards of 5 billions dollars, according to Bloomberg news. 

   What larger enemy of the people do we currently have besides the health care industry and pharmaceutical companies? If enough information is ever found that for profit entities had a hand in the spread of coronavirus, whether purposeful or not, no amount of money will suffice as punishment for such a crime. We are already painfully aware that the opioid epidemic was initiated and accelerated by a handful of greedy pharmaceutical companies. In closing, sadly the United States and its government are subservient to the Healthcare industry. And before we even think about universal health care, perhaps we should be worried about the criminal acts perpetrated by these companies for monetary gain.

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