Ranting Ahead.

[spindle_ella]

One argument that anti-vaxxers have that I really, really can't stand is that vaccinations are a conspiracy by Big Pharma.

Don't get me wrong, pharmaceutical companies are fucking shady. I used to work for a company that did genetic screening for clinical trials, and that is either as shady as it sounds, or shadier.

BUT the profit margins in vaccines are not lucrative by Big Pharma standards, for them the real money is in treatments for lifelong health problems - such as the ones you can get from catching childhood diseases.

Estimated profit margins on vaccines are 10-40%. The average retail price for MMR is roughly £100, give or take, so if you take a kid for the recommended two doses the company's going to make around £80, maybe as little as £20.

I'm prescribed a topical shingles treatment off-label for my wonky nervous system. The patches cost the NHS just under £300 for 30 of them, up to three can be worn at a time, and shingles can last 3-5 weeks. So let's split the difference and say 4 weeks, 30 days or so, (28 days and a couple left over until you're sure it doesn't hurt any more), and they only have to wear one patch, and let's assume that the profit margin is still 40%. Big Pharma made £120. If three patches were needed they make £360. And you can get shingles more than once! More than twice is rare, but even twice racks us up to between £240 and £720.

So do Big Pharma want a vaccinated population? Or a population riddled with shingles?

And that's before we factor in how much they can make off all the other lifelong problems measles can leave in its wake, including immuno-suppression (you wanna talk about lucrative?), or even what mumps can do, or getting into other vaccinations.

I just...

Comments

[author_by_night]

Yeah, they're complaining about all the wrong things. :/

For example, everyone's touting Good Rx. I have a few prescriptions so I actually want to try it, but at the same time, I'm here going... why do prescriptions cost so much, we now need a nationwide coupon for them? It's like those news stories where a kid's elementary school raises money for said kid to get a new wheelchair. They're great efforts, but at the same time, why does a wheelchair cost that much money?

I saw a thread on Facebook the other day where parents were saying they shouldn't give their kids the flu shot because of the Corona Virus (???) and because "the flu shot gave me the flu." No, it didn't. The flu shot CAN cause flu-like symptoms, but it does not give you the flu. What is true is that it does take a few weeks to work.

[greghousesgf]

I have Asperger's so I'm not real keen on the anti-vaxxers' implications that it's better to have a dead kid than an autistic one (Vaccinations don't cause autism anyway!)

[st_aurafina]

*fistbump of solidarity*

So many vaccines developed here are done in government-supported labs, anyway. The big pharma argument makes so little sense. That is not where the money is.

[viciousladybug]

I agree with this rant 100%. Preach it!