A Shot In The Dark EXCELLENT ESSAY!

[Guest guest]

http://www.nakedauthors.com/2008/03/shot-in-dark.html

by Cornelia Read, mother of an Autistic daughter, writer.

" If you think the tobacco companies spend a lot of money on lobbying

and campaign donations, let's do a little comparison on how they rate

compared to the pharmaceutical industry, in this country...

Tobacco (between 1997 and 2007): $34.7 million

Pharmaceuticals (for same period): $675 million

Oh, wait, those figures aren't exactly comparable... that second

amount is for lobbying alone--it doesn't include the drug companies'

political campaign contributions, in the United States.

Here's another figure that might give a small idea of the

pharmaceutical industry's global clout --the amount spent on marketing

(and " administrative costs " ) by the 11 biggest drug companies in 2004:

$100 billion

And here's what they reported spending on research and development

that year: $50 billion. "

This essay by Ms. Read is a true piece of art, beautifully written and

plenty artwork to go with it....highly recommended reading!!!

Peace,

Kris