It seems that I've hit a positive chord out there and I'm extremely pleased about that. Yesterday's post easily surpassed the most people who have ever come to the Pharma Compliance Blog in a single day!
Along with the comments to yesterday's post, I received some emails as well as phone calls that were very positive. I think, to some extent, we're programmed by mainstream media to hear and believe the things they're saying --- and to genuinely believe that we're getting the whole truth and nothing but the truth. But we need only go through a difficult experience ourselves or witness a loved one in a difficult medical situation to learn the power and promise of the pharmaceutical industry. I learned it firsthand during my bout with Lyme Disease. I watched my aunt go through chemotherapy last year. And there's more...and, unfortunately, will be more.
Since this is Your Space. For Your Space. I will be sure to seek out the positives that are happening every day in our industry during my daily research. However, as we all know, it is also our responsibility to see and understand the negative so that we can learn from it and bolster compliance --- so not every post can be puppy dogs and ice cream!
With that being said, I enjoyed the below anonymous comments so much that I felt compelled to ensure that everyone sees it. The first reader makes some great points and then we're supplied with some very positive and exciting statistics!
Enjoy your weekend fellow bloggers!
For Your Space,
Steven.
"It's refreshing to hear a positive perspective on the contributions of the Pharma industry. So frequently, the public is quick to point out the high cost of drugs and conveniently leave out the cost-lowering affect pharmaceuticals have had overall. Consider the cost of one quadruple bypass vs. the expense of a cholesterol reducing drug - never mind quality of life. Conveniently, that same public doesn’t recognize the R&D dollars and related expenses to bring new drugs to market. Most of us have been touch indirectly, if not directly, by a cancer diagnosis. How important do those R&D dollars become, when it’s someone you love waiting for treatment or a cure? I often want to ask, where do you want to spend your money on R&D to develop another feature for your phone (maybe it can do your laundry or train your dog) or pharma R&D to maybe, just maybe, find a cure. Like John Mayer, I’m not color-blind either but every once in awhile it’s really important to point out all the great things pharma brings! So thanks for doing that!"
And some awesome stats we can all cheer for!
"All we need is the proof...
In the past few decades, hundreds of innovative new drugs have entered the marketplace. They help: improve quality of life; save millions of lives; increase labor productivity leading to more robust economies; and, provide cheaper, less invasive solutions to chronic diseases, such as heart disease. The improvements to quality of life and life expectancy have been significant. Studying US life expectancy between 1970 and 1991, Lichtenberg (1998) conservatively estimates a $15 billion increase in pharmaceutical R&D expenditures saves 1.6 million life-years per year, valued at $27 billion. Lichtenberg also finds pharmaceutical innovation decreases costs in other areas within the healthcare industry. For example, Lichtenberg (1996) estimates for every $1 increase in spending on pharmaceuticals there is a subsequent decrease of $3.65 in hospitalization costs, yielding a savings of $2.65. Additionally, by reducing the age of utilized drugs from 15 to 5.5 years, pharmaceutical expenditures increase $18, but yield a $129 savings in non-drug expenditures for a net savings of $111 (Lichtenberg 2002)."
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