The Meriam-Webster dictionary defines profiteering as "the act or activity of making an unreasonable profit on the sale of essential goods especially during times of emergency". Profiteering by pharmaceutical companies has been an increasing problem worldwide for decades. The fact that medical care is so often needed during times of crisis and emergency makes profiteering easy and commonplace. This is also facilitated by changing power dynamics globally, providing more opportunities for pharmaceutical companies to exploit.
Johnson and Johnson are trying to extend their patent for anti-tuberculosis medications that are needed to save millions of lives, but instead of letting the patent expire so that the drug can be made affordably enough to be available to the rest of the world, they are trying to falsely extend the patent to bolster their own profits. Learn more about it here.
French company bungled clinical trial that led to a death and illness, report says
"Why one man died and four others fell ill during a drug safety study in
France last month is still very unclear. But a preliminary inspection
report lashes out at Biotrial, the company that conducted the study, for
how it responded after the first volunteer in the clinical trial was
hospitalized. Three major errors by Biotrial put other volunteers at
risk, says the report, published yesterday by France's General
Inspectorate of Social Affairs (IGAS). Responding to the report,
Touraine said that from now on any hospitalization during a clinical
trial should be regarded as "new fact" that needs to be brought to the
attention of health authorities immediately. Such events should "lead to
an immediate suspension of the trial until the safety of volunteers is
guaranteed," she said. "Volunteers must be clearly informed about the
suspension of the study and its reasons."
Bill Gates Almost Single-Handedly Derailed the Plan That Could Have Led to a 'People's Vaccine'
"But the inspiring plan devised by the scientists—which promised to
create a vaccine essentially belonging to the world's people, not to
corporate shareholders—was crushed fairly decisively when Bill Gates
ventured into the fray."
