The Writer's Life 9/25 - Principle

Why are drugs so expensive? Peter J. Pitts explains in an op-ed piece in today’s NY Post. Since 2000 companies have spent half a trillion dollars developing new medicines. In 2014 alone it was $51 billion. Fewer than 12% of new drugs win FDA approval. Bringing one drug to market costs about $2.6 billion and takes an average of ten years. I’d heard similar stats before, but they bear repeating. Pharmaceutical companies usually get a bad rap, damned if they do, damned if they don’t. They introduce products that extend and improve the quality of life of millions and are often sued when side effects adversely affect a relatively small percentage of users. The disclaimers on ads are as scary as they are preposterous, but must be included because a handful users are affected negatively, even die. I believe we are an over-medicated society, but the medicating is up to the doctor and, ultimately, the patient. I’m glad I don’t yet need meds, and I always research alternative methods. For example, when my cholesterol went to 250 years ago, my doctor immediately wanted me to take a drug. I chose to change my diet instead and, to his surprise, it worked. I’ve been adding a green tea supplement to seltzer for the past couple of years, and my prostate number has gone down. The next time I order some I will look into collagen tablets. According to Jerry Hickey, the head of Invite Health, people mistakenly believe that bones are comprised totally of calcium when it’s only five percent. Collagen is much more prevalent in the human body. The required dosage will be the key. One would go broke using all the recommended supplements. Upon hearing Hickey doing his show, I'm astonished by how many he professes to take and wonder if it is a danger to the stomach.

House Speaker John Boehner will be resigning his position, making conservatives happy. He has been excoriated as being too accommodating to President Obama, for not standing on principle, for not trusting that the majority of Americans would support political fights despite the threat of a government shut down. Will the next Speaker follow his lead and cave if the votes on heated issues aren't there, or will it be someone willing to do battle at least on select issues?

Ol' Smoky did a lot better than the floating book shop today. He found a year-round metro card that's good until June. This means he will be able to ride the subway all winter at no cost, which may be a life-saver. He, like so many other homeless, does not want to live in a shelter.
My thanks to the kind folks who bought books, especially Barry Spunt, author of Heroin and Music in NYC, who overpaid for an Ethel Merman bio. He will have one of his students at John Jay College read it, looking for instances of celebrity substance abuse, which is the topic of his work in progress.

Vic's 5th Novel: http://tinyurl.com/okxkwh5Vic's 4th novel: tinyurl.com/bszwlxh

Vic's 3rd Novel: http://tinyurl.com/7e9jty3

Vic's Short Story on Kindle: http://tinyurl.com/k95k3nx
Vic's Short Story Collection: http://www.tiny.cc/Oycgb
Vic's 2nd Novel: http://tiny.cc/0iHLb Kindle: http://tinyurl.com/kx3d3uf
Vic's 1st Novel: http://tinyurl.com/l84h63j

Vic's Rom-Com Screenplay: http://tinyurl.com/kny5llp

Vic's Horror Screenplay: http://tinyurl.com/cyckn3f

Vic's Blog: http://vicfortezza.blogspot.com/

Vic's Web Site: http://members.tripod.com/vic_fortezza/Literature/