NAMI got $23 from Drug Companies

Who makes the most donations to NAMI, the National Alliance on Mental Illness? Guess again, it’s DRUG COMPANIES! It’s no secret that NAMI lobbies big and bad with drug makers to push legislation that benefits BigPharma. Well, maybe they’re about to at least get their hands slapped by Iowa’s Senator Chuck Grassley. He’s written some letters, and poked around, and now the numbers are out. NAMI got $23 million from drug makers. Yes, almost 75% of the donations NAMI got were from pharmaceutical companies.


Michael Fitzpatrick, the executive director of NAMI promises things will change. He says that NAMI doesn’t want it to look like NAMI is “…in the pockets of pharmaceutical companies…”. Now NAMI will start posting the names of companies that donate $5,000 or more. Bet there’ll start being a lot of $4,999 dollar donations from various fringe groups and “anonymous” donors.
Here’s the story from the NYT.

20,000 Expected to Lose Job As Result of Pfizer Wyeth Merger

These drug companies expect their employees to be loyal and tight lipped about any unethical, unmoral practices that happen everyday but then make "business moves" that will result in 20,000 of those employees to be jobless. Now that Pfizer and Wyeth have completed their merger it's time to sit back and see how many of those employees will be kicked to the curb.

It took nine months from the time Pfizer announced its intentions of acquiring Wyeth for the dotted line to be signed. What kind of prenatal vitamins were these two taking to cause such a terrible side effect? One area of the budget that is expected to see dramatic slashes is research. Research!?

$1.3 Billion Criminal Fine for Pfizer and There's Still Enough Money To Buy Wyeth

Pfizer Inc. plead guilty to felony charges “for misbranding Bextra with the intent to defraud or mislead.” The terms of the settlement resulted in the largest criminal fine EVER imposed in the U.S., yet I wonder how much of a dent it actually put in their pocketbook if they can still afford to "join"/buy out Wyeth.



Pfizer & Wyeth Are Now One. Working Together for a Healthier World........how much do you think they paid someone to come up with that statement?



Even so...a win is a win. Go, Whistleblowers!

Shouldn’t Paul Kirk’s Ties to Pharmaceutical Companies Raise Even More Concern Than His Health-Insurance Connections?

After reading the cry for help Dr. Janet Parker, D.V.M. sent in November 2008 to the United Nations on behalf of “Medical Whistleblowers,” it seems that appointing someone else on the Pharmaceutical companies’ side to the Senate would be a step in the wrong direction.

Paul G. Kirk, Jr. is the likely pick of Gov. Patrick and is being endorsed by the Kennedys even though there is opposition by many concerned that his loyalty to Hartford Financial Services would be a serious conflict of interest. Kirk has also spent some of his career lobbying for the Pharmaceutical companies Hoechst Marion Roussel and Aventis.

Dr. Parker’s letter to the UN describes an un-just and un-safe system for Whistleblowers that have bravely taken a stand only to be assaulted, forced out of the workplace, and possibly murdered. She personally was raped and harassed when she tried to push the murder investigation of Assistant United States Attorney Tom Wales. Wales was murdered during an investigation of an enterprise that takes advantage of vulnerable people through fraud. Dr. Parker’s concerns lie with the almost non-existent safety system for whistleblowers because of loyalties and political influence of the people in power.

Giving Kirk a free pass to D.C. will only hinder the process of establishing any kind of safe avenue for these witnesses of fraud and greed to come forward with their testimony.