2020-04-04

Coronavirus #2

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by Neil Godfrey

It’s hard to feel motivated to write about biblical studies. I can think of nothing less important at a time like this, especially after reading the latest news re the U.S. right now. Can there be anything more evil than using the pandemic to bolster and fuel the profit-motivated capitalist system? A federal government that stands back and watches each state fend for itself while feeding the capitalist system? That does not even qualify as “civilized”.

Remarks by President Trump, Vice President Pence, and Members of the Coronavirus Task Force in Press Briefing

REAR ADMIRAL POLOWCYZK:  So FEMA is — so this product that we’re moving is primarily commercial product that would enter the commercial system and be distributed through financial business transactions between hospitals and these distributors.

Q    So, just to clarify that, that explains why states say they’re bidding like they’re on eBay, because the supplies are going to the private sector and then they have to go there to get the supplies.

REAR ADMIRAL POLOWCYZK:  That’s normally how things –that’s normally how things work, right?  So I’m not here to disrupt a supply chain and say — look, these six distributors — six, seven — they have six to seven hundred warehouses.  They have trucks to go to the hospital door every day.  We’re bringing product in.  They’re filling orders for hospitals, nursing homes, like normal.  I’m putting volume into that system.

The Ventilator Business Is Its Own Swamp Of Miscreant Corporations

This apparent profiteering should come as no surprise. Consider the poor track record of the ventilator industry. ResMed is not the only producer with a history of alleged misconduct. In fact, all the big publicly traded companies in the industry have paid millions of dollars in penalties in False Claims Act, kickback and bribery cases.

Along with ResMed, they are Philips, General Electric, Hill-Rom and Medtronic.

How Big Pharma Is Getting Ready To Blackmail Americans

The $2.2 trillion coronavirus relief bill that Congress hastily passed and Donald Trump signed into law deliberately creates new price gouging opportunities for drug companies.

Left out of the relief bill was language from a 1980 law that requires drug companies to charge “reasonable” prices for pharmaceuticals developed with government financial help. Companies that charge unreasonable prices, or hold back on making their inventions available, can be stripped of monopoly rights.

Without this language companies that develop coronavirus vaccines or cures using federal funding can jack up prices for any COVID-19 cure or vaccine with no legal limits. Imagine the price gouging possibilities for a life-saving vaccine or cure. All other countries with modern economies have laws to protect against price gouging.

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Neil Godfrey

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4 thoughts on “Coronavirus #2”

  1. There are few things that sicken me as much as Trump’s refusal to use the powers of the Federal government to ensure adequate supplies of medical equipment. He is utterly amoral.

    Herbert Hoover is castigated for his do-nothing approach to the Great Depression, but, in his defense, there was no expert consensus about the best way forward. A thinking and feeling human being might sincerely (if mistakenly) have believed that letting the crisis run it’s course was the best move in the long run. There is no excuse for Trump.

  2. Real madmen at the helm…Trump and his son-in-law Jared Kushner…Jared, who has maneuvered himself into position to make Trump’s mind up for him. Little to no heart or conscience in either of them.

  3. A friend from Germany made the same observation. We noticed that a parliamentary system makes a difference. A politician in a small party in a parliamentary system has an incentive to point out flaws in current policies. Here in the US, politicians and the general public are free to do so, but they will rarely be a platform in the mainstream media.

  4. Is the 1980 law still in place? As with terrorism no new law is necessarily necessary, we usually have perfectly adequate laws. Did we do bugger all about pharmaceutical pricing before the latest ‘Chicken Little’ nonsense? No, we enforced already existing law.

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