Capitalism and health, a recipe for disaster
There have been many examples over the years and known facts about the operations of pharmaceutical companies so for those who are aware the latest news about Glaxo will come as no surprise at all.
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) the pharmaceutical giant is in trouble with the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) over paying rival companies to delay the release of new medicines.
Of course the OFT is focusing on its job which is to ensure fair competition which of course is one issue (and one that free market capitalism is not able to resolve, government regulations are vital to ensure, under a capitalism system that competition can thrive).
The second issue and one that too often gets ignored is that businesses like these are deliberately withholding life saving medicines in order to maximise the profitability and lifespan of their old medicines.
How is this travesty of justice not made illegal? How are business allowed to have control of something of such vital importance? If capitalism cannot work in the interests of the people then it shouldn’t be operating at all!
In the short term, bring the pharmaceutical companies under public control, in the long term, abolish capitalism.
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