Drug Rats

I was in my wife's doctor's waiting room the other day when the Merck rep and his boss wandered in.

The rep was a jolly sort...overweight but full of glee. His boss was more dour...thinner and much more boring. You could just tell.

The jolly one proceeded to inquire of the receptionist as to whether or not they needed anything.

They didn't.

"What do you mean...you don't want any of my stuff?", came the jolly query.

"No...", they didn't.

The two pharma boys muttered a bit to themselves, sat down to strategize their next appointment and then got up to leave.

I felt no sympathy whatsoever. I felt like asking them how it felt to be a part of the problem rather than a part of the solution. I decided not to bother...not to make a fuss. I wasn't up for it.

They are despicable. Not necessarily those two (always the rationale...not them...never them...!). They are probably really nice guys, although I wouldn't want to be stuck between them on a long flight. The one would put me to sleep, a good thnig, but the other would keep me awake with a combination of too much jolliness and too many love handles spilling over into my seat.

It's the whole lot of them...the whole class of individuals who make their living off of other people's suffering. They don't give a hoot in hell about their product, only that the doctors to whom they sell buy their stuff.

Research for the common good. My ass...!

They are no different then the gun manufacturers or the insurance companies or the investment bankers.

All that matters is profit and the consumer be damned.

Now don't get me wrong. Profit is a good thing. I want it when I work. It makes us do what we do in business. Make a profit.

But at the expense of all other possible morality?

I don't think so. Where's the balance?

Gone...I guess.

Did you hear the one about the Pharma's Daughter...?

She was on the pill but got preggers anyway...it was a placebo. Cost as much as the real thing but wasn't as effective.

Can you say, "Dah Dah...?"