Reply #38: So...When Edwards says we need to get insurance companies and HMOs out...

[Triana]

...from between patients and their doctors, he's NOT addressing the problem of PROFIT in the healthcare industry?

I certainly think he IS addressing that, separately.

EDIT: AND...knowing Edwards' record on protecting consumers from corprat predatory practices, this is another reason (besides cost) that it's a good reason to do away with direct-to-consumer advertising from pharmaceutical companies. Consumer SAFETY. Do you really think that when a pharmaceutical company is out to make money (when are they NOT?), that they care that much about the safety of their products? HOW MANY products have been allowed on the market that were later found to be UNsafe - AFTERWARDs? Do you TRUST the FDA to vet these products before they are allowed to market them? Because guess what. The FDA doesn't. They require testing. They don't DO the testing - they simply require certain reports that it's been done. If a drug company shows that some testing has been done and the product is "safe", it's allowed on the market and the drug companies are allowed to advertise it (whether it's really safe or not).

Direct-to-consumer advertising certainly increases sales. In the case of unsafe drugs that the FDA has approved, it also increases the liklihood that even more people will be made ill, debilated, or die due to those drugs.

It's a bad idea all round - EXCEPT for the pharmaceutical companies, of course.