Day of Reckoning on Opioids: Pharmacy Chains

For those responsible for igniting the manmade opioid disaster, a day of reckoning is fast approaching. Of course Pharma is in the cross-hairs – notably Purdue Pharma, Cephalon, J&J, Endo Health Solutions and Actavis. Then come the wholesale drug distributors including AmerisourceBergen Corporation (NYSE:ABC), Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE:CAH) and McKesson Corporation (NYSE:MCK). Now giant retail conglomerates like […]

How Far Will Republicans Go? If Past Is Prologue…

Mike Magee As Jeff Sessions appeals for Donald Trump’s support, and Michael Bloomberg positions to enter the Democratic Primary, with the Iowa caucuses fast approaching, the future of health care, let alone the Republican party, is playing out in full view. The unspoken question, “How far would Republican leaders go to win their own elections? […]

Could Dole (and Nixon) Finally Bring An End To The Trump Nightmare?

Mike Magee Excerpted from Code Blue: Inside the Medical Industrial Complex early drafts. As the country moves now at a full gallop toward an Impeachment trial of Donald Trump, inevitable comparisons arise to Richard Nixon and the Watergate era. But, beyond law breaking and enemy lists, the two men share little in common. No one […]

The Day After Medicare Passed.

Mike Magee As Democratic candidates continue to debate how best to accomplish universal health coverage and variations of Medicare-for-all, it is useful to recall that the battle for the original Medicare didn’t end with the signing ceremony. The following account is excerpted from CODE BLUE: Inside the Medical Industrial Complex. July 30, 1965, was a […]

Compassionate Capitalists Debate “Medicare-For-All.”

Mike Magee As this week’s Democratic debate well-illustrated, the issue of “Medicare-for-all” still ignites passion and was actively contested by 12 compassionate capitalists. By now, strong majorities of Americans support access to health services as a right, universal coverage, and protections against discriminatory expulsion from coverage due to prior conditions. How we get there, and […]

Common Pathways – Donald, Arthur, & Rudy.

Mike Magee Hardly a week passes without his golden lettered name being pried off another building. As his name has been torn down, so has his reputation. His skills as a salesperson are chronicled in an advertising hall of fame, his alliances held secret, his business tactics borrowed from the mob, his empire built on […]

The Real Arthur Sackler. Part 5: Drug King Pin.

Mike Magee When the Medical Advertising Hall of Fame honored Arthur Sackler posthumously in 1997, they failed to mention (perhaps intentionally) his crowning achievement. In 1952, their honoree quietly funded the purchase of a fledgling New York based pharmaceutical firm, Purdue Frederick Co. The flailing venture was focused on antiseptics like Betadine and laxatives like […]

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