Oh FFS

[NMMNG]

Apparently Big Pharma is behind the CFC ban so they can push CFC free asthma inhalers (which, of course, cost more than the original kind). Is there anything they won't do to increase their profits? :eyes:

[TZ]

1. Wow. My company just went green!

I guess its cause the want people to think they are enviromentally sound when they are really pushing more of their POISONS :sarcasm:. I swear to god you could post that Big Pharma invented the wheel to make it easier for people to come buy their product and people would believe it..:banghead:

[NMMNG]

2. Shhhh

Don't give people ideas. :P

[uppityperson]

3. I'm glad enough people jumped on that misleading bit.

[NMMNG]

4. Me too

I don't know what it is with people always wanting to think everything is a plot by Big Pharma and evil scientists wanting to rape their wallets and kill them.

[uriel1972]

5. Don't forget Big Laboratory,

We don't have one use disposable plastic thingamajigs because we don't want to contaminate specimens. We just have them because we hate the planet and want to fill it up with landfill. We are an evul not TEH EVUL!!11!!!11 but just an evul

[NMMNG]

6. Yeah, you guys suck

Evul anti-environment people. :P

[Silent3]

7. Setting aside the ridiculous conspiracy part of this...

...I do have to wonder how significant the threat to the ozone by medical inhalers is. Is going CFC-free more PR hype than effective environmental action? Is the claim that the new inhalers are significantly more expensive true?

[semillama]

8. The new inhalers are a little more expensive, due to a lack of generics

Since the new cfc-free formulation is a new patent, generic versions aren't available yet. At least that's what my doctor told me when they first came out.

[Silent3]

9. While I'm not a woo-ish "Big Pharma is poisoning us!" conspiracist...

...I do have my suspicions about the games the pharmaceutical industry plays to get new patents on trivial changes, to make more money and marginalize generics.

[TZ]

10. SOME pharmas play.

Some of the changes aren't trivial my friend...My company is working on a point mutation that will allow a longer half life of its monoclonals. So instead of getting an injection every 3 months, a patient will only have to get an injection every 6 months.
Smart Pharmas try to one up their own patents to make a better product.

[Silent3]

11. I'm certainly not trying to condemn...

...all drug patents, I just suspect that some are likely to be pretty bogus. From my perspective as a software engineer I see lots of patent claim insanity. At least when it comes to the approval process for software patents, the process is clearly monumentally broken.

[TZ]

12. I do understand what you are saying.

Clearly there is patent games playing in the industry. Certainly some of the bigger companies like Merck and Pfizer are most likely guilty of it.
I just wanted you to know that there are some legitimate reasons for companies to re-engineer their biologics/drugs occasionally.