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[–] Brigbjones 0 points 3 points (+3|-0) ago 

The drugs have an effect. They treat the symptoms instead of the cause and bring a host of other complications. We need to reduce the cost to field new meds and stop the insurance supplication to end this hyperinflated market.

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[–] RoBatten 0 points 1 point (+1|-0) ago  (edited ago)

I had a doctor tell me, long ago, "There is no money in cures. There is only money in treatments," meaning to treat symptoms . . .

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[–] midnightblue1335 0 points 1 point (+1|-0) ago 

^ This. That's why there are a lot of conspiracy theories about cancer cures or HIV immunizations; the amount of money cancer drug producers would lose if there was suddenly a pill that you take 1 time and you're immune to cancer would be ABSURD. Possibly BILLIONS of dollars in a matter of months.

Suddenly people don't need chemo drugs. Suddenly the "HIV cocktail" of dozens of different pills taken 3x a day are worthless. And that means whoever owns the patent for these drugs is FUCKED.

There's a great, specific example of this "better to treat than cure": Ibogaine. It's a drug that comes from some african root, it has powerful hallucinogenic properties. In the few studies that were allowed to be done with it, it would seem it has an extremely high effectiveness in curing heroin/opiate addiction after a single 5 day session. Amazing, right? So why wouldn't they want this stuff freely available?

Because Suboxone/methadone are VERY expensive. And they don't cure addiction- they maintain addiction, simply preventing withdrawal symptoms in the afflicted patient. Patients will stay on these drugs for YEARS. A month's supply of a mild Suboxone dose can cost around $500. Some patients will be on those drugs for LIFE. So don't you think the manufacturers of Suboxone/methadone would be very upset if suddenly a one-week long treatment popped out?

They do not look at us as PATIENTS, they view us as CUSTOMERS. The goal for dealing with a patient is to "make them not need my services for as long as possible". The goal of dealing with a customer is "make this person come back to me as frequently as possible to spend more money".