Re: Homeopathic overdose protest in Boots | Forum

Homeopathic overdose protest in Boots

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Merrick Jan 27, 2010 19:05:35

Replying to handofdave

handofdave wrote:

If your argument is that the insurance/public health system shouldn't be paying for it, I agree with you.

That's not my argument, no. My argument is that the nation's most trusted pharmacy has a duty to act responsibly as medical professionals, and should not sell sugar in containers that claim is is medicine.

handofdave wrote:

At the same time, I have to point out that big pharma, with its giant profits, has (in the USA anyhow) muscled their way into a position where they have enormous control over the healthcare system.

I totally agree. We should to proper trials on all manner of medical approaches and discern what works and what doesn't. Big Pharma is certainly guilty of profiteering. Mind you, the profits margin on homeopathic sugar nibs is far greater.

handofdave Feb 4, 2010 05:00:07

Replying to Merrick

Merrick wrote:

Big Pharma is certainly guilty of profiteering. Mind you, the profits margin on homeopathic sugar nibs is far greater.

You mean that the profit margin on a small bottle of sugar water is enormous, yes... but the totality of the homeopathic market is dwarfed by the establishment medical scene. The profits of the big pharmaceutical corporations in the USA are colossal compared to the alternative medicine market.

dave clarkson Feb 4, 2010 20:42:24

Replying to Merrick

"Mind you, the profits margin on homeopathic sugar nibs is far greater."

Are you serious?

The big pharma companies generate the largest profit margins not from complementary medicines but from 'trademark' products and being the first in the bullying race to develop these medicines......GSK - zantac, asthmatic/ inhalation medicines, Novartis - flu, cold, cough medicines, massive profits off the swine flu problem, putting them several notches up the big pharma top ten. Pfizer - Sutent, Viagra etc. Sutent can cost people with the wrong postcode £3.5K a month for treatment. Most of the above products are incredibly cheap to manufacture, seal, package, inspect and release to market against the sale prices.

The intense race for position of pharma industry is why there are occasional unanswered questions concerning the validity of thorough clinical trials and process inspection prior to product launch.

Excipients, containers, packaging costs for the big selling trademarks are low. Tabletting presses, filling machines, labellers, cartonners, checkweighers etc are inexpensive machinery which can last up to 20 years in validated state. Production lines normally operate at 100 units per minute minumum. Work out the figures against drugs manufactured for popular symptoms (colds etc).....also the more serious the treatment condition is, the more expensive the drugs generally are but are generally not expensive to manufacture.

Sugary water or low content tablets still go through the same production and packaging processes and have similar constraints. The packaging and presentation is no cheaper nor is the R&D performed on them. Homeopathic medicines are small fry to big pharma against their popular sellers. This could change in time if there is massive sea change but unlikely.