Can you believe this?

[Uncle Joe]

Link to tweet

[earthshine]

1. Socialism is for corporations! nt

[Uncle Joe]

2. I believe you nailed the harsh reality of modern day America earthshine.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

3. Rugged individualism for everyone else.

[Go Vols]

4. :/

Salk campaigned for mandatory vaccination, claiming that public health should be considered a "moral commitment." Salk claimed that his sole focus had been to develop a safe and effective vaccine as rapidly as possible, with no interest in personal profit, and credited this attitude with the fact that there is no patent for the vaccine.

[Duppers]

5. My Gawd. 😡

Folks should read this article!

Thanks, Joe, for posting.

"Only about 20 percent of the 1.1 million people who should be taking it for prevention are on the drug. That means preventable infections are occurring every day...

“This treatment was developed as a result of investment made by the American taxpayers...”

Truvada has earned Gilead about $3 billion a year and $36 billion since the drug was approved in 2004..."

Thanks to Elijah E. Cummings and AOC (those much maligned, loud-mouth progressive liberals) for these hearings.

[Uncle Joe]

7. Thank you Duppers and I couldn't agree more.

"Thanks to Elijah E. Cummings and AOC (those much maligned, loud-mouth progressive liberals) for these hearings."

[Celerity]

9. Bernie Supporters Heckle Elijah Cummings at DNC

https://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2016-07-25/bernie-supporters-heckle-elijah-cummings-at-dnc


Elijah Cummings Slams Protesters Who Interrupted His Democratic Convention Speech

https://www.haaretz.com/world-news/elijah-cummings-slams-protesters-who-interrupted-dnc-speech-1.5417763

The sight of a 65-year-old black man — and veteran congressional leader — being shouted over by mostly young, white liberals was jarring to many.

Kweisi Mfume, a former Maryland congressman and head of the NAACP, said the treatment of Cummings was "a low point" of the four-day convention.

"It was downright disrespectful," said Mfume, a Clinton delegate. "I think it does not necessarily help the relations that Bernie's people may have with the larger African-American community."

[Agschmid]

6. Gilead does provide multiple programs to reduce the cost or provide free Truvada.

That being said they could discontinue those programs if they just lowered the cost.

I know quite a few folks who don’t pay a dime for it, but I’m sure their insurance does.

[Celerity]

8. Gilead's HIV drug, Truvada, costs between $1,600 and $2,000 a month in the United States, compared

with just a few dollars a month in some foreign countries.

Gilead charged $800 a month for the drug when it was introduced in 2004. The drug now costs nearly $2,000 a month — or $70 per daily pill, Cummings said. “How can Gilead do this?” he asked. “How can our system allow a company to take a drug treatment that was developed with taxpayer funds and abuse its monopoly to charge such astronomical prices?”

Truvada has earned Gilead about $3 billion a year and $36 billion since the drug was approved in 2004, but it is about to lose its exclusive patent protection. The first generic will be available beginning in 2020, with more likely to follow in 2021.

[Eric J in MN]

10. A federal agency should...

...research and manufacture and distribute pharmaceuticals.

If private companies want to as well, that’s fine, but a federal system should be central to pharmaceuticals.

[GulfCoast66]

11. That's a horrible idea for many reasons...

But to highlight the most obvious problem:

What would that agency have started working on, or most importantly stopped working on since trump is in office?

It would inevitably be politicized.

That certainly does not mean we should continue to current situation. Regulation will work fine. But only when republicans are not in a position to block them.

[Eric J in MN]

12. Everything the federal government does is undermined by Republican presidents.

We should have an EPA, for example, even though it's undermined by Republican presidents.

[Duppers]

13. Folks would scream socialism is putting private business..

Out of business.

Some folks here on DU are opposed to such "socialism."
But I think you've a great idea.

[Uncle Joe]

14. I agree Eric.