BUSH, SCHWARZENEGGER, BIG PHARMA, PROPOSITION 78 & 79 AND THE CORPORATE STATE

This week's L.A. WEEKLY has an excellent story by Christine Pelisek about why the monopolistic corporations that control the medical policies in this country (thank you "Dollar" Bill Frist) are fighting tooth and nail to pass stealth right-wing Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's horrible Proposition 78 while working to sink the really good pharmaceutical proposition (#79).

Reading it, I thought back to my first call and then my first IM this morning. Both were from M., my stock broker. I had just climbed out of the pool at around 7AM, after a couple dozen laps, when he called. He was quick to jump on the fact that I sounded out of breath. An hour later he was chastising me for mentioning what I had for breakfast today when I posted the story about BushCo trying to censor THE ONION.

Pelisek's introduction to her story brought me right back to M. "Los Angeles resident Margaret Sowma is in her mid-70s and trying to survive on a fixed income," she writes. "It’s not easy juggling her prescription drug bills. 'I have no benefits at all,' says the former seamstress, who spent 15 years making ladies’ suits and coats for a downtown factory that offered no health plan. 'Anytime I need a prescription it comes out of my pocket.' Seniors make up 14 percent of the population of California and receive 45 percent of all drug prescriptions. Prescription drug costs are their second largest monthly expense after housing. 'Pharmaceutical companies are making money hand over fist,' says Sowma, who spends close to $300 a month on medication for osteoporosis and high blood pressure. 'How much can small pills cost?' Just one osteoporosis pill costs $20. That is relatively cheap compared to some medications. According to California Public Interest Research Group, an uninsured person taking Zocor for high cholesterol is likely to pay at least $1,672 for a year’s supply."

I was taking Zocor for years for my "genetic" high cholesterol. (My mom had astronomically high cholesterol as do both my sisters.) I hated taking Zocor but eventually it brought my cholesterol levels way down. And, eventually I asked my doctor if I could stop taking it. He informed me that I'd be taking it for the rest of my life. Ugghhhhhhh... but I kept up the routine.

By and by something much more serious than high cholesterol struck and, having enough sense to know I couldn't be fooling around with Big Pharma priorities, I went to get a 5th opinion from a holistic doctor who came highly recommended as someone with a 100% rate of solving deadly little problems like mine. Holistic doctors, of course, treat the whole person, not just the alarm bell that happens to be ringing. Let me make a long story short. The following year, after a routine check-up, the regular pill-pusher who had condemned me to a lifetime of Zocor mentioned that I should stop taking Zocor. "Huh?" I asked in shock. "I thought I had to take that crap for life." He explained that my cholesterol level was now so low that even if it rose by a third-- which is normally what happens when someone stops using Zocor-- I would still be inside a normal cholesterol range.

I was delighted to comply. And after the next check-up he was surprised that the cholesterol level hadn't risen by a third... or at all. Big Pharma is NOT about your health. It is about maximizing profits regardless of anything. Check that link, above, again. That's one delicious breakfast-- a lot better than $1,672 worth of Zocor a year. And remember, Big Pharma is part of the deceitful, totalitarian state fronted by Bush and Schwarzenegger. If you live in California you have an opportunity to strike a blow for freedom next month: you can vote NO on Proposition 78 and YES on Proposition 79, NO on BushCo, no on Schwarzenegger and no to Big Pharma's overweening greed and avarice.