As I said before, if the German company Bayer Pharmaceutical could determine another way to extract more money from me and the large employer group health insurance plan that my employer provides me, I was confident they would. They recently increased the price of my medicine again. I can think of no other technology product whose price doesn't decline over time, especially when there is no improvement in it's effectiveness, if only due to economies of scale and process improvements that reduce costs..
I remember when my same medicine cost only $960.00 per month. I was reminded recently when I found a mix disc I made to possibly commence the rest of my life using this medicine -- the one with uncertain effectiveness, uncertain safety, possible unpleasant side effects and if nothing else, the sensation of a self administered bee sting every other day -- I found it in my wife's car's cd player. It was the only cd the car could play, all others just skipped, including brand new discs out of the wrapper.
If our political system needed another exhibit describing its current state of being broken, here it is -- my medicine now costs, $3,061.75 per month while never getting more effective. Big Business is buying the government we get. The medicine's patent expired during 2007. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) doesn't even have a process for approving a generic version of my medicine. Congress never created this needed approval process for medicines like the one I use. Without FDA approval no medicine can be sold in the United States including a generic version of my medicine. Pretty cool huh, if you are the CEO of Bayer Pharmaceutical.
Bayer Pharmaceutical didn't even invent the drug. It was developed at universities around the world, including in the United States.
It's been too long since writing here. Since my last post,
- My wife carried a baby to term -- she amazed me and she is well, thankfully.
- Our healthy son was born.
- Our son added more than 8lbs in the past 12 weeks, he was 7lbs at birth.
- President Obama signed health insurance reform legislation into law.
- My fantastic sister and her cool long-time boyfriend married.
- A lot of people searched for jobs, but too many searched for too few.
- Wages for most (North) Americans in the US did not increase, especially in real terms.
- The search for ms cures continued, with possibly a major advance coming from Europe, by studying Chronic Cerebrospinal Venous Insufficiency (CCSVI).
- By almost any measure the National Multiple Sclerosis Society has become even more effective.
- Money spent to wage war in Iraq and Afghanistan has eclipsed $1 Trillion ($1,000,000,000,000.00, that's equal to $186,439.33 for every person living in the state of Wisconsin and a lot of money to me) and I only feel safer because private health insurance companies can no longer discriminate against me and I no longer have to worry about reaching a life time health care money spending limit thanks to President Obama and mostly Democratic members of Congress (and groups like Health Care For America Now, churches, community organizations, many labor unions, like SEIU and many AFL-CIO member unions that together made reforms politically possible.)
- We still need health insurance reform, like Medicare for All
SONG, ARTIST, ALBUM
- Waitin' For A Superman, Iron and Wine, Around The Well
- Don't Forget Me, Case, Neko, Middle Cyclone
- Never Had Nobody Like You, Ward, M, Hold Time
- Belated Promise Ring, Iron and Wine, Around The Well
- Whole Lotta Losin', Monsters Of Folk, Monsters Of Folk
- Quiet Dog Bite Hard, Mos Def , The Ecstatic
- Roses, Mos Def Feat. Georgia Anne Muldrow, The Ecstatic
- The Palace At 4 am, Newman, Carl 'A.C.', Get Guilty
- Overjoyed, Circulatory System, Signal Morning
- Silver Trembling Hands, Flaming Lips, The Embryonic
- Over It, Dinosaur Jr, Farm
- Nothing To Hide, Yo La Tengo, Popular Songs
- Deeper Down, Wilco, Wilco (The Album)
- 82 Onewasjohnny, Todd, Singles
- Honey Bee, Zee Avi, Zee Avi
- Such Great Heights, Iron and Wine, Around The Well
- Avalon Or Someone Very Similar, Yo La Tengo, Popular Songs
- While You Wait For The Others, Grizzly Bear, Veckatimest
- Summertime Clothes, Animal Collective, Merriweather Post Pavilion
- The Right Place, Monsters Of Folk, Monsters Of Folk
