Sorry about that big cowboy bootprint on your ass, Charlie…
GIBSON: Mr. President, let’s extend for a minute…
BUSH: Let me just – I’ve got to answer this.
GIBSON: Exactly. And with Reservists being held on duty…
(CROSSTALK)
BUSH: Let me answer what he just said, about around the world.
GIBSON: Well, I want to get into the issue of the back-door draft…
BUSH: You tell Tony Blair we’re going alone. Tell Tony Blair we’re going alone. Tell Silvio Berlusconi we’re going alone. Tell Aleksander Kwasniewski of Poland we’re going alone. There are 30 countries there. It denigrates an alliance to say we’re going alone, to discount their sacrifices. You cannot lead an alliance if you say, you know, you’re going alone. And people listen. They’re sacrificing with us.
GIBSON: Senator?
Heh.
This was the first debate I watched – the other two I listened to on radio. The person I watched with is probably poltiically somewhat to the left of myself – (yes, I know, not a difficult achievement) and it was pretty clear that he thought Bush had won.
James Joyner liveblogged.
As a Canadian, the response Bush gave on lowering health care costs by relying on Canadian imported drugs was badly explained – though the “safety” response might play well with a US audience, it sounded flat out goofy from this side of the border. The real problem with importing Canadian drugs is that our prices are contained legislatively. US drug companies tolerate the situation because our share of the market is relatively small. The idea that they would agree to having the bulk of their US profits slashed by an export-import run through Canada is naive. They can stop exporting any time they like.
And was James Varner a Rove operative or just a guy with a mean streak a mile wide?
“Senator Kerry, would you be willing to look directly into the camera and, using simple and unequivocal language, give the American people your solemn pledge …”
I was lost on the whole importing drugs from Canada thing as well. It is true that we would be importing drugs produced in the U.S. If anything is done, it should be done here and skip the middleman, i.e., Canada.
The drug companies profit enormously after they produce a successful drug, that is true, but it covers the cost of research and development of that drug and new drugs, which is huge. That’s something lost on the libs I think. It’s a little instant gratification, but there is a long term cost.
Damn why can’t they open their eyes.
Bush And Kerry Presidential Town Hall Debate
I watched the debate and both the candidates came off well. I’m partial to George Bush, but I have to admit that Kerry came off better than I thought he would. I still don’t agree with his claims that he…
Such Drama, I love black and white classics. Great.
The blog “Asymmetrical Information” has a relevant post on the pharmaceutical industry:
http://www.janegalt.net/blog/archives/004942.html
Many of the comments are excellent. For example, Derek Lowe makes the remark:
{begin quote}
This is an excellent comment thread, and it’ll now be the first I’ve seen on this subject that features more than one pharma researcher.
I’m a medicinal chemist myself (thus my blog, “In the Pipeline”), and I’ve worked in “Big Pharma” since 1989. I found the paper that Alex at MR brought up very interesting indeed. It fits with my back-of-the-enveloping from inside the industry.
It might not be obvious to the casual observer, but we’re having a hell of a time these days. The research is getting harder to do: the targets we’re going after are tougher and the regulatory hurdles are higher. And at the same time, it’s absolutely true that the US is the last market where we can be sure of recouping our costs and earning a profit. It’s not a good corner that we’ve painted ourselves into.
The political, scientific, and economic uncertainty of the business has everyone on edge. This is the worst shape I’ve seen the drug industry in since 1994 (and the effects of the Clinton health-care proposal). Let’s put it this way: finding a parking spot at my place of work is, for the first time since I’ve been employed there, no problem. No problem at all, unfortunately. . .plenty of empty ones to choose from.
{end quote}
I also make some comments, for example:
{begin quote}
I seriously considered a career in pharmaceutical research. I even spent time at Caltech in a research fellowship that was subsidized by Merck. In spite of the opportunity, I chose another career path. Part of the reason for my choice was my perception that the whole of pharmaceutical research was unstable because of poltical attacks. I am certain that I am not the only person scared away from health research by political demagogues. Shrinking the pool of potential pharmaceutical scientists ultimately means fewer pharmaceutical advances.
{end quote}
Many of the comments address the drug re-importation issue. The informed comments all support Kate’s post and Jager’s comment. The comments by Derek Lowe and biff, both of whom work in the pharmaceutical industry, are particularly interesting.
Of course, the remark concerning James Varner on this post is … Beautiful.
Ja, that “safety” explanation was stupid.
It’s the kind of remark that makes bush look like a moron.
I’d have like to have seen him handed his head on that one, and then have a discussion about the economics of drugs, and how to get the rest of the world to pay up.
Canadian drugs. Fooey, when was the last time a new drug was developed in Canada (without massive governmental support), and sold to the world.
Right. Exactly.