I can't say I'm surprised

"MasterMario - Keeper of the V8s" (mastermario)
02/27/2020 at 10:10 • Filed to: covid-19, coronavirus

!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!

I was only half joking when I said this yesterday about the HHS Secretary and the coronavirus COVID-19 , but damn, he basically came out and said it

DISCUSSION (22)

Aremmes > MasterMario - Keeper of the V8s
02/27/2020 at 10:22

Well, of course, we're living the future predicted by The Onion after all.

gettingoldercarguy > MasterMario - Keeper of the V8s
02/27/2020 at 10:23

Bman76 (hates WS6 hoods, is on his phone and has 4 burners now) > MasterMario - Keeper of the V8s
02/27/2020 at 10:26

I believe it’s time we seized their means of production...

I like cars: Jim Spanfeller is one ugly motherfucker > MasterMario - Keeper of the V8s
02/27/2020 at 10:48

Kinja'd!!!

Cash Rewards > MasterMario - Keeper of the V8s
02/27/2020 at 10:52

How exactly should a cabinet level official promise that a private corporation charge a certain price for a product that doesn't even exist yet, and no one has any real idea how difficult it may be to develop? Unless we go to full socialized healthcare, you're asking for government intervention in the private sector in an unprecedented level. Full disclosure: I think we should be fully socialized for healthcare. But we're not, and expecting a promise like that is unrealistic

For Sweden > Bman76 (hates WS6 hoods, is on his phone and has 4 burners now)
02/27/2020 at 11:13

The Chinese aren't currently having much luck with that

For Sweden > MasterMario - Keeper of the V8s
02/27/2020 at 11:27

How do they know how much it costs if it does not exist?

camarov6rs > For Sweden
02/27/2020 at 11:29

I believe part of that is the authoritarian part of their leadership and the culture that has the people follow leaders very closely. Also logo for Swedish company owned by the Chinese, you might be a spy ;)

For Sweden > camarov6rs
02/27/2020 at 11:33

Gotta get that yuan yo

MasterMario - Keeper of the V8s > Cash Rewards
02/27/2020 at 11:40

Because the government has the power and authority to do so. This is absolutely in the best interest of everyone that a vaccine be affordable if one can be developed. This should be a case where the government steps in and says, “We are funding all the research for this and all pharmaceutical companies will sell the vaccine at cost”...if you want to call that socialism so be it, but it’s not unprecedented for the government.

MasterMario - Keeper of the V8s > For Sweden
02/27/2020 at 11:44

They can’t, but had he said something like, “We will work to make it as affordable as possible” instead of “We would want to ensure that we work to make it affordable, but we can’t control that price, because we need the private sector to invest ” we wouldn’t be talking about this. His choice of words aren’t an accident.

Also, how do I even k now if you exist?

For Sweden > MasterMario - Keeper of the V8s
02/27/2020 at 11:46

You don’t!

pip pip

Cash Rewards > MasterMario - Keeper of the V8s
02/27/2020 at 11:52

While agree it's in the best interest of the public, I'm not sure I agree with unprecedented. What's the precedent? Only thing I can think of is the government bailout of the auto industry, and that's barely similar. They told GM to shutter some dead weight brands, but that's it

BigBlock440 > Cash Rewards
02/27/2020 at 11:56

The government puts price controls on things all the time. Not that I think they should be able to, but it’s not uncharted territory here. Take a gander that the supreme court raisin case, Horne v. Department of Agriculture, for an example of government price fixing.

MasterMario - Keeper of the V8s > Cash Rewards
02/27/2020 at 11:59

WWII is what came to mind when I typed that. The government essentially took control of much of the US industry...so we’ve already established that it has the authority to do so. If you want to argue that a wartime economy is different so be it.

Chariotoflove > MasterMario - Keeper of the V8s
02/27/2020 at 12:36

Well, you can’t compile behavior that is not yet at issue for a product that hasn’t been created yet. You can afterward , under certain conditions, though I’m not sure what those conditions would be legally . See, most pharma company research is funded by the company’s R&D budget, not the government, so it’s private property. Government seizure of that private IP is sticky .

I’m not defending price gouging of people’s misery. I’m just pointing that out.

MasterMario - Keeper of the V8s > Chariotoflove
02/27/2020 at 12:49

m ost pharma company research is funded by the company’s R&D budget

While true, it’s probably less than you think. Almost a third of medical research is funded by the US government. This is where we get into gray areas...if a drug’s development was partially funded by the government, how much control over price should that company have?

fintail > MasterMario - Keeper of the V8s
02/27/2020 at 12:55

Pence is on the case now, the man who stated smoking doesn’t kill and who finds conversion therapy just fine thank you very much ,everything will be OK, no need to panic.

Par for the course for this regime. Sadly, with pharma and FIRE having virtual control of national policy, it might not matter who is in office.

Chariotoflove > MasterMario - Keeper of the V8s
02/27/2020 at 12:57

No, much of medical research is funded by the government, but that’s basic research. That’s where I live. Drug development is almost entirely funded by commercial companies. Case in point is the drug for amyloidosis that my dad has been laboring to bring to market. He spent his entire career in academics working on the basic biochemistry and genetics that led to the ability to design a drug. The knowledge that came from that research was funded by the NIH, the VA, and other foundation grants, and is contractually the IP of the hosting university at which the work was done . But when it came time to actually produce and test a drug, he had to partner with a drug company, which put its private money behind all the synthesis, pre-clinical, and clinical trials. The federal government doesn’t have a share in ownership of the drug at all.

MasterMario - Keeper of the V8s > Chariotoflove
02/27/2020 at 13:02

I get that...I just think it’s insane that so much research gets done up front with federal tax dollars that gets turned into a privately held patent protected drug.

Chariotoflove > MasterMario - Keeper of the V8s
02/27/2020 at 13:21

It’s frustrating, but it’s the system we have. So much of basic science research adds to our knowledge base as a society with little direct commercial application, and I can tell you from (frustrating) personal experience that so much of scientific activity dead ends without product. It’s like trying to solve a huge maze with a blindfold on. Private industry can’t support all of that for obvious economic reasons, so the government has to, or no one will. I’m grateful it does.

But when a drug is designed and needs to be brought to market, whose gonna pay that huge outlay? If the government does it, we have government owned production. If you think the size and inefficiency of our federal government is bad now, just think of that scenario. Communist tried it and failed miserably. Private industry can and will do it once they see a direct profit at the end of the rainbow. They incur risk, and many drugs fail or even get recalled, resulting in huge loses, but they take that calculation. They need to make a profit, but how much? They have to satisfy investors, pay for new R&D, all that. But at the same time, how much profit is too much to make on disease? It’s a real conundrum. We let them run unregulated, and people may not be able to get their meds, but we hobble them too much, and we strangle the chance for new drugs down the road.

Cash Rewards > MasterMario - Keeper of the V8s
02/27/2020 at 13:28

Not wartime as different, because of shit hits the fan enough with this it could be a similar domestic crisis. I hope it doesn't get to that.