Do They Really Want To Cure It?

[Guest guest]

Fact: The average cancer patient generates $1,300,000 of revenue for the cancer

treatment " system " before they die. This is invisible to most cancer patients

because much of it is covered by private insurance or Medicare/Medicaid. Over

1.2 million Americans are diagnosed with cancer each year. Over 570,000

Americans die of their cancer every year -- 1,500 every day. Cancer treatment is

REALLY big business.

Fact: According to Forbes magazine, AstraZeneca made $630 million in 2001 on

one breast cancer drug. Thay call it Nolvadex (commonly known as Tamoxifen). Why

has the name been changed? Because the original patent for this drug was issued

in 1972. It has been extended, as is typical for expensive prescription drugs,

by manipulation of the filler and packaging and other trivial changes made by

AstraZeneca to extend the life of the patent and avoid cheaper generic forms of

this drug

According to the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), the average

oncologist makes $253,000 a year. Of this, 75% is profit on chemotherapy drugs

administered in his or her office. All of these drugs, like Tamoxifen and

Etoposide, treat the symptoms of cancer, not its causes, and make the patient's

condition worse