Pharmaceutical industry's political spending

[Taximom5]

When trying to make decisions on vaccinations, it helps to understand the politics surrounding vaccines, health insurance, health care, etc. It may also be helpful to take a look at this:

http://www.opensecrets.org/industries/indus.php?ind=H4300

[prosciencemum]

That is really interesting. 

I thought it was generally understood there's not a lot of profit in the vaccines though - the profit is in cancer drugs, viagra things like that.

Anyone have any links to data on what profits these companies make from vaccines and how much they spend on testing for vaccine safety and developing new vaccines? 

[Rrrrrachel]

We went through this on another thread not long ago. Around ten percent of Mercks profits for a given year were from vaccine sales. No idea how that stacks up against what they spent developing and researching the vaccine, though. Conventional wisdom tells me the big money is in drugs you can get people to take everyday, not ones they take 2-3 times in a lifetime.

[purslaine]

10% (if Rrrrachel is correct) is a lot of money for a pharmaceutical company.  

[Taximom5]

http://centerforvaccineethicsandpolicy.wordpress.com/2010/01/17/global-vaccines-revenues-projected-to-more-than-double-by-2016/:

"The global vaccines industry was valued at $24 billion in 2009, and is expected to reach $52 billion in 2016 at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 11.5%. The vaccine market, which was once considered a low-profit segment of the top players' portfolios, showed a turnaround after the resounding success of Prevnar, the first blockbuster vaccine."

http://www.naturalnews.com/028936_WHO_vaccines.html:
"A stunning new report reveals that top scientists who convinced the World Health Organization (WHO) to declare H1N1 a global pandemic held close financial ties to the drug companies that profited from the sale of those vaccines. This report, published in the British Medical Journal, exposes the hidden ties that drove WHO to declare a pandemic, resulting in billions of dollars in profits for vaccine manufacturers.

Several key advisors who urged WHO to declare a pandemic received direct financial compensation from the very same vaccine manufacturers who received a windfall of profits from the pandemic announcement. During all this, WHO refused to disclose any conflicts of interests between its top advisors and the drug companies who would financially benefit from its decisions."

http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/pharmaceutical-advertising-united-states-vs-europe-55640307.html:

"US Pharmaceutical Launches: Marketing Spend and Structure" reveals that the average blockbuster brand in the US allots 49% of its budget to fulfill advertising needs. This her allotment is attributed to the fact that most blockbuster brands target a mass-market audience that requires large-scale advertising."

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/01/080105140107.htm:

ScienceDaily (Jan. 5, 2008) — A new study by two York University researchers estimates the U.S. pharmaceutical industry spends almost twice as much on promotion as it does on research and development, contrary to the industry’s claim.

[Rrrrrachel]

Originally Posted by kathymuggle 

10% (if Rrrrachel is correct) is a lot of money for a pharmaceutical company.  

That's a matter of perspective, I guess.  It is certainly a lot of money, but when 9 times as much money is coming from other sources, is it enough money to engage in a massive cover up over and open yourself up to lawsuits?  that's assuming you don't give a flying flip if people get hurt and only care about money and can convince no one in your company (or the FDA or the CDC or multiple other organizations that research vaccine safety) to blow the whistle.

[Rrrrrachel]

Using the numbers from the science daily article, they make 10% of their sales from vaccines.  Around 24% of that goes to promotion, around 13% goes to R&D.  Now we're done to about 6% of that original 10% in profit.  Average monthly income in the US is around 50k/year.  that's around 4k a month, 6% of that is 240 (before taxes).  How much risk are you willing to take for $240?  Would you go poke your boss in the eye and risk losing ALL your income over $240?  I wouldn't.

[Taximom5]

But vaccines may be only the tip of the iceberg.

There are many studies and case reports (links posted here on MDC) of vaccine-induced autoimmune disorders, asthma, lupus, MS, autoimmune thyroid disease, bowel disorders, reflux, seizures disorders, etc.  We are now starting to hear reports linking vaccines to ADD and ADHD  http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/75333.php, so that's a possiblity as well (and yet another one that has not been thoroughly studied).

All those health issues are treated by medications--most of them lifelong.

Ka-CHING.

[Rrrrrachel]

You know what else can cause lifelong health issues? Polio. Measles. Meningitis. Doctors and Pharma companies could make a lot more money on treating these conditions that would be much more common without vaccines.

[Rrrrrachel]

By the way, that same generation rescue survey that you linked to "showed" that children were less likely to be autistic if they were fully vaccinated and partially vaccinated and there was very little difference in autism rates among fully vaccinated and not vaccinated at all. Hmmmm, it could be that you're safer if you fully vaccinate, or it could be that their survey wasn't really a very good way to gather data. Also, when actual statisticians and scientists looked at the results they found no statistical significance. That's what happens when you do relative risk ratios with small numbers like generation rescue did, you end up making differences that are due to random variation look big and scary. I wonder if they did that on purpose or just out of ignorance.

There's a great xkcd comic about green jelly beans causing cancer that also applies here.

[Taximom5]

It's both possible and plausible that vaccines cause far, far more relatively "minor" health issues (such as asthma, diabetes, autoimmune thyroid disease) that need lifelong medical treatment than the major, lifelong issues caused in a tiny percentage of those who had polio and measles. And that's not even counting the more severe health issues linked to vaccines.

It's now common for very young children to have asthma, diabetes, food allergies, bowel disorders, reflux,and for teens to have autoimmune thyroid disease.  Half my daughter's elementary school class goes to the nurse before lunch for their medicine. 

Meningitis was all but unheard of 30-40 years ago.  Not now--and we know it CAN be induced by vaccines.

I'm not saying that vaccines are the one and only cause of all this.  But 35-plus vaccines, containing chemicals that have not been adequately studied for adverse effects, especially long-term effects, coupled with an incomplete understanding of the immune system, are the most obvious suspect.

[Rrrrrachel]

If you say so.

[BeckyBird]

Originally Posted by Rrrrrachel 
 Conventional wisdom tells me the big money is in drugs you can get people to take everyday, not ones they take 2-3 times in a lifetime.

Yes, they certainly want everyone to use their drugs. However, every single child in this country is expected to receive a full schedule of vaccines, while not every child is expected to take prescription drugs. So, vaccine sales are dependable revenue and extremely important to the pharmaceutical companies. Dependable is the key here.

[wookumus]

If you believe that multi-billion dollar corporations do anything that isn't highly profitable just purely for the sake of public health, you are seriously deceived.  Big Pharma has NO incentive to cure disease, otherwise they would not exist.  After 10 years as a professional drug shiller, I've seen how perfectly the system works.  "Help" people by keeping them mildly ill for many years with multiple medications, most of which treat each others' side effects.  Perfect for the top 1%!
 

[Super~Single~Mama]

Look Taxi!! Your pharmashill is here!!
Edited by Super~Single~Mama - 5/22/12 at 5:57am

[wookumus]

btw, risk for pharmaceutical companies is lower with vaccines than with the other medications because they made a fabulous deal with our government to exempt them from lawsuits due to vaccine injury.  they threatened to cease production without this legal protection.  you can only seek recompense for vaccine injuries through a very specific program called VICP (vaccine injury compensation program) and only for certain vaccines and the manufacturer never has to admit fault or alter their products as a result.  so what incentive is there to make a vaccine as safe as possible?  these companies pay out billions every year for illegal marketing tactics but keep on doing it.  these corporations do not profit from ethical practices.
 

[Cynthia Mosher]

I found a dated report about this thread  - sorry for the delayed response to it.

Let's not throw the "pharmashill" word around. Namecalling it is and regardless of the reason it does not create a good discussion atmosphere. Address the words not the person.