I watched an interesting movie last night called The Constant Gardener. It was a very interesting movie. Basically, it is a murder/conspiracy mystery about pharmaceutical companies and the testing of new drugs. It brings up a lot of philosophical questions regarding our health care system and our desires to beat death.
The main idea is that pharma companies, out to make big bucks, will make shortcuts to have bigger profits while trying to give the general public what they want. No one wants to hear how they develop the drug that will cure whatever disease as long as it it there when needed. So, the question is, if you or a loved one was dying from a disease, any disease, what lengths would you go through to save that person’s life? What responsibility would you put on your doctor? the pharma companies? Would you authorize the use of a drug that was developed using people in other countries as guinea pigs knowing that it was done in unsafe conditions or that the initial testing resulted in a high number of deaths?
It is a very tough question. At what cost would you save your life or the life of someone you loved? Would the deaths of innocent people be ok if the end result was what was wanted? Do the ends justify the means?
As I sat and thought about this and all the things that we die from these days, I realize that, as a society, we demand that our medical fields be able to solve all of the things that come up in our health. When they can’t, its THEIR fault. While we have made leaps and strides in these fields over the last 100 years, there are still so many things we don’t know. We put pressure on these fields and they, in turn, try to produce results. Some of these start out as benevolenty as they can, but with all of the regulations and resources required, these people turn to where they can to get assistance, business. These are people that are now only out for money. The relationship starts easily enough until business says to sell it for more and produce it for less. Widen the profit margins.
Now, this company that started to try to help people is now in bed with people who care less and less about what is produced as long as it makes a good profit. Even if the product is flawed, the collateral damage is not bad enough to warrant re-evaluation. It becomes competition between companies and that is the most important part, get the product out, make the money, and satisfy the investors. If a couple of people die in the process, so what? Right?
What once started out many years ago as a desire to better our lives has turned into a better our lives at the expense of other “non-important” lives and make a major profit doing it. It is really sad but will it change? Will we be so caught up in our lives that we will determine that it is ok? Will our shiney new developments be bathed in the blood of the innocent sacrificed for the almighty dollar?
