Doctors have the most esteem, tobacco companies the least. Oil companies are not ranked much better than the tobacco companies. But third from the bottom are the pharmaceutical companies which actually equal the hated HMOs and managed care plans in the rankings. Shocking.
This chart might explain it. While 60% of the public (below left) thinks that the pharmaceutical industry has an important role in society by researching new drugs and treatments, 70% of them (below right) think they are too interested in making profits and putting profits ahead of people.
The truth is that drugs are effective. The issue may be in getting that message out to the general public and being heard over the shrill complaints of populist politicians and the media trying to drum up a story. The other plain simple fact is that in our economic system even the pharmaceutical companies have stockholders and if these companies don't make profits, no one will invest in them, the companies go away and no drugs will be made. That extreme result is not going to happen, but this data presents a perfect climate for someone (politicians for instance) to step in with yet more regulation with no objection and maybe even assent from the general public. They would get to make a name for themselves whether regulation would be wise or not.tags: pharmaceuticals, drugs, healthcare, Kaiser Family Foundation
1 comment:
So you've accepted the drug companies' word that all their drugs are effective? Try reading The Truth About the Drug Companies, by Marcia Angell, a physician and former editor of the New England Journal of Medicine.
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