Hunger Games vs. Perscription Games

The latest block buster at the movies is titled "Hunger Games". It takes place in a post apocalyptic society where the world is divided into twelve districts governed by a very wealthy 1% of the population. The rest of the world is inhabited by starving underdogs. There is no middle class. Think pre French revolution. The rich folks have a once a year event where they pit twenty four young people, (two reps from each district) against each other. The one survivor receives food for his/her district to last a year or until the next games.

At least that's the story line of the movie, as I understand it.

It struck me that there is a correlation here. According to CNN, the latest example of greed from our huge pharmaceutical companies is predictable but never the less, shocking. It seems that our nation has a shortage of high cost medicines that can't be substituted with generic drugs, because they are too new on the market and there are no generics for them as of yet. Why is there a shortage? The drug companies have put a limit on the manufacture of these vitally important medicines since most folks can't afford the co-pays, and many insurance companies won't pay the full freight for them; they will only pay for generic drugs. Big Pharma must have its pound of flesh.

Here's an example. If you have Diabetes 2 and use Glucaphage, an oral medication, you could have trouble buying it in the future. Your insurance company or Medicare might not want to pay the price of your prescription, or you may need to accept a huge co-pay if your drug is filled. So, you will have to use the generic med, which may not work for you because it doesn't have all the active ingredients of the "expensive pill". Meanwhile, if you are in the wealthy 1%, then you can afford high priced insurance and exorbitant prescription fees. You can qualify for the real thing or you can pay for it out right. Talk about class warfare.

Let's take this one step further. Former Vice President Dick Cheney qualified for a new heart at seventy one years of age! Don't tell me money doesn't talk. And I'm not upset because he's a Republican. I would be just as angry if it were Senator Harry Reid getting a new ticker. Both of these men are too old. They are approaching the end of their life expectancy. That heart should have been given to a young person who has been hanging by a thread for more than twenty months. That transplant could have allowed someone's child to live a close to normal life span instead of a truncated existence. The 99% lose, again.

It's not fair, but then life is unfair, or as Marie Antoinette said, "Let them eat cake."