John_F Loc: Minneapolis, MN

Copied from an email.

Pharmaceutical Corporation Doubles Price of Promising Coronavirus Treatment
Rising Pharmaceuticals, a U.S.-based drug corporation, raised the price of a drug being used to treat coronavirus in China and other countries by 97% in January of this year as the spread of the virus accelerated.

The drug, Chloroquine, has been on the market for 20 years and is approved to treat malaria. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is currently testing Chloroquine as a treatment for Coronavirus, and President Trump mentioned it in Thursday’s daily White House briefing as a potential treatment option.

After public pressure, Rising has promised to lower the price of the drug back to its pre-outbreak price. However, this is not the first time Rising Pharmaceuticals has come under fire for its business practices. The corporation was found to have engaged in price fixing in 2019 and was required to pay $3 million in fines and restitution as part of a lawsuit in Pennsylvania.

“It is absolutely outrageous that Rising Pharmaceuticals would seek to maximize its profits during a global health crisis,” said Alliance Executive Director Richard Fiesta. “Congress must take action to stop pharmaceutical corporations from engaging in price gouging and profiteering.”

aellman Loc: Boston MA

Try checking the prices of toilet paper on ebay. People profiteering from this crisis are the lowest form of humanity.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Why I've never heard of such a thing. A rich company gouging the sick? This must the be the first time.

"The Onion" had a page about the virus. "Large pharmaceutical companies are working round the clock to develop the most profitable vaccine."

The only thing that matters is making as much money as possible - any way possible. You heard about the senators who dumped millions of dollars of stock before their coronavirus was taken seriously?

From what I've heard, it's unlikely this drug will help with covid-19, but if the drug companies can show some positive results and start selling it, they'll come out ahead, whether it works or not.

MrBob Loc: lookout Mtn. NE Alabama

People forget that these are not private enterprises... we, the stockholders own these companies. Folks want big profits in the market... go figure. The snake feeding on its tail.

chasgroh Loc: Buena Park, CA

<shrug>

Cany143 Loc: SE Utah

"Copied from an email." Was it from a long lost uncle? Or some guy at the end of the bar?

Apart from Chloroquine to have been shown to be of minimal (to no) effectiveness, and apart from the *Breaking News!* that there are any number of entities that are (more than) ready, willing and (apparently) able to fleece various and sundry rubes (yrmv) from their last wooden nickel --can I interest you in this new toothpaste I've heard of that'll cure you of this chineeze virus?-- you might want to cite a more reliable source.

We're all gonna die. (Personally, I'm planning on being run down by a truck. But one not driven by some emailing uncle I didn't know I had.)

nicksr1125 Loc: Mesa, AZ

From medlineplus.gov Side effects from chloroquine phosphate can occur. Tell your doctor if any of these symptoms are severe or do not go away: headache, loss of appetite, diarrhea, upset stomach, stomach pain, skin rash, or itching, hair loss, mood or mental changes.

From webmd.com Side Effects. Blurred vision, nausea, vomiting, abdominal cramps, headache, and diarrhea may occur. If any of these effects persist or worsen, tell your doctor or pharmacist promptly.

Chloroquine has NOT been shown to be an effective treatment for coronavirus. These are some of the milder side effects. It has not been approved by the FDA to treat coronavirus. It can be lethal if the dose is too large or given at more than the recommended frequency.

IDguy Loc: Idaho

Well, through the courtesy of a family member who can prescribe, I have mine. A little pricey but not bad.

Worth trying if things get dicey.

PS: note the lack of links from those who claim it doesn’t work.

dpullum Loc: Tampa Florida

Time to get a Bidet... Amazon they come with all fittings, the nozzle is self-cleaning after your butt is clean. About $25. All it lacks is a hot air dryer to purify you a small amount of paper towel is fine.. Toilet paper is too weak and forms what we called in High School "wall ballies."
PS: dogs will no longer follow you sniffing your butt as is in Cheech and Chong movie dog sniffing stunt ... aaaa ??? Up in Smoke??

sb Loc: Florida's East Coast

About ten years ago the FDA reviewed its' list of approved drugs and found that many had been grandfathered in and had never gone through the process to be proven to be "safe and effective". They immediately took a number of medications off the market - Midrin for headaches is one that was often useful but no longer available.

So some companies did some quick studies and submitted the info to the FDA and got permission to sell products that used to be available as generics at very cheap prices - but these companies marketed the new products at exorbitant prices - because hey could. Colchicine for gout is a good example - colchicine comes from the colchicum plant and has been known to treat gout for about 300 years. Colchicine tablets were pennies. All of a sudden, if you needed colchcine, you had to buy "Colcrys" for $6 a tablet. The same thing happened with chlorioquine - "quinine" - a compound found in the bark of the cinchona tress in South America. They called it the "fever tree" and new that they could treat fevers (many of which were caused by malaria) with it. Jesuit missionaries realized what they were doing and took bark from the tree back to Europe, where malaria was raging through the Mediterranean area. All of a sudden the FDA ruled that quinine was never determined to be "safe and effective". So all of a sudden 30 tablets went from a few dollars to $75. Small amounts of quinine can be found in tonic water...

John N Loc: HP14 3QF Stokenchurch, UK

Go ahead and up the price, I don't expect China will be too bothered about patents etc. and will soon start manufacturing their own, then the manufacturer won't be getting even 10% of the price.

It'll be no different to fitting pattern parts on your car.

traderjohn Loc: New York City

"You heard about the senators who dumped millions of dollars of stock before their coronavirus was taken seriously?"
I don't quite understand why this is a problem for you. If their money manager(s) senses a problem and having a knowledge of how the market responds to the uncertainty of the unknown. They do what money managers do. They manage money.
I worked on Wall St. for over thirty years. Our portfolio is managed by dare I say it....a money management company. I received a call about 10 days ago there would be a major shift in the outlook with your portfolio. Good, do it. That's what I pay you for. They may be bad politicians depending on your outlook, but this does not make them bad people because they got in front of this problem. Unless you subscribe to misery loves company pholosophy.

agillot

bring back the guillotine ! and line those scum up .

nicksr1125 Loc: Mesa, AZ

Worth trying if you can stand the side effects. I did include links. Go back & look at my post.

medlineplus.gov & webmd.com. Both are respected medical websites.

kvanhook Loc: Oriental, NC

Like sb said---"Colchicine has been known to treat gout for about 300 years. Colchicine tablets were pennies. All of a sudden, if you needed colchicine, you had to buy "Colcrys" for $6 a tablet." Yes, I found that out. No more cheap, good, dependable, low priced drug.