Illegal pharmaceuticals and socialized healthcare
Healthcare is “free” in the welfare state, yet way too many Finns are taking serious health and criminal risks by ordering illegal pharmaceuticals online. Are Finns too poor to purchase these drugs in the country? Or are these drugs too expensive? Either way, it seems that socialized medicine isn’t doing a good enough job.
And aren’t we supposed to hate these evil capitalist pharmaceutical companies who only jack up the prices? I guess we should be happy that so many are sticking it to these big corporations…
Last year, Finnish Customs confiscated 180,000 counterfeit pills, the majority of which were potency and slimming medicines. At the same time, a total of 532 pharmaceutical offences occurred. However, Anssi Kartila from the National Board of Customs believes that this is just the tip of the iceberg.
“It is surprising what large quantities of pharmaceuticals are bought from the Internet, even though the risks are so high. After all, one can never be sure of the contents of the drug”, notes Kartila.
By June, a total of 140,000 pills had already been confiscated by the Finnish customs authorities, which means that this year’s figures will be considerably higher than those for last year.
FROM THE HS ARTICLE (LINKED ABOVE) “” “Such e-mails come mainly from enterprises with no proper licence. I myself would never risk my health by buying medicines from the Internet”, said Suvi-Anne Siimes, the General Director of Pharma Industry Finland. “”"
Of course she wouldn’t risk it. She can afford it. She’s a former parliamentarian and at the head of a pharmaceutical conglomerate.
However, it should be underscored that the most pirated/illegal drugs ordered here are mostly “life-enhancing” drugs. I mean you won’t die without a proper erection or with a few unsightly rolls of fat, will you.
As for the antidepressants, I can only guess that for a “Real Finn” the stigma of admitting to depression might be too much, and either they turn to Kossu or to illicit (anonymous) drugs from the Internet.
Comment by DAVE THE RAVE — Mon, Aug 27th, 2007 @ 9:26 pm
I still don’t understand. Presumably people going around stating that socialist welfare state medicine = bad, want this system to be abandoned in favour of the market controlling access to health care. Under such a system, do you just allow people to suffer who can not afford the market rate? I just fail to comprehend. It seems a very inhumane point of view.
Comment by JG — Mon, Aug 27th, 2007 @ 9:31 pm
I don’t really see the link to socialized health care here.
The market of potency medication and slimming pills lies on the gullibility of the population.
I think any good doctor in finland would rather recommend a combination of a new diet and excercise instead of any slimming medication.
The potency medication is expensive because the big brand companies know they can ask almost anything for their product and it will sell.
This naturally creates a pirate market very easily, this is a result of capitalism (patents, branding, ip-rights) rather than socialized healthcare.
Now you could argue that the pharmacy business should be released in finland. However a likely scenario would be that Kela would still only subside drugs bought from certain “partner pharmacies” part of the public healthcare system.
Also I strongly doubt counting out the Kela subsidies there’d be any decrease in prices even if there were more pharmacies.
As for the drugs against harmful diseases it seems a poor US citizen is way more fucked over(and certainly trying to get theirs from the internet) than anyone living in scandinavia.
Comment by philtard — Mon, Aug 27th, 2007 @ 9:50 pm
Shouldn’t a proper socialized healthcare plan support erectile dysfunction, obesity, and depression?
Comment by Phil — Mon, Aug 27th, 2007 @ 9:53 pm
Philtard, what does the situation in the US have to do with this thread?
Usually drugs bought on the internet cost MORE than they do in a pharmacy, if they don’t they are very likely fake.
What does a Finnish doctor say to a Finn who has trouble with his boners? Take a sauna?
Comment by DAVE THE RAVE — Mon, Aug 27th, 2007 @ 10:11 pm
#3: Most geniuses ordering online “Viagra” hardly suffer from erectile dysfunction (unless you count
Comment by Freeridin' Franklin — Mon, Aug 27th, 2007 @ 10:17 pm
#3-”free up the system….. KELA would still only buy from partner pharmacies”
NO, we mean FREE IT UP, not free it up Finnish style where we do so (in name anyway) but don’t change a thing about it.
Comment by Punter — Mon, Aug 27th, 2007 @ 11:23 pm
#4
It does address, however I happen to know anti-depressants are far from simple prescription and you shouldn’t experiement with them yourself.
Also at least according to a story in City-magazine getting Viagra couldn’t be simpler even for a guy under 30.
Obesity can’t be dealt with just pills. However I claim in most cases it can be dealt without pills entirely.
I would also maintain that the high numbers of internet orders are because of the tendency of these groups (obese, impotent) to seek “miracle” cures.
Comment by philtard — Tue, Aug 28th, 2007 @ 1:52 am
Well in Finland people buy drugs online, in Lebanon they buy them from pharmacies that give a 20% discount. With the official benefit of the pharmacist being 22.5%, you wonder how these pharmacies keep on with 20% discount while still paying electricity/phone bils, employees and taxes. Leaves you perplex. Still people rush there, and wait in lines, just to buy their drugs (most of the pharmacies just sell drugs, no question answering, no advice giving, NOTHING)
And it makes you wonder why the phamacist job is becoming so despised nowadays!
Anyway, you can never blame the drug companies for their pricings. Since every drug takes around 10 yrs of studies before release, and for every drug marketed there are like a 100 or more who failed the studies from the 1st, 2nd or 3rd phase, you understand why a new drug costs so much and why the generics are so low-cost.
Comment by Rita El Khoury — Tue, Aug 28th, 2007 @ 10:41 am
I don’t see what these two things have together. Pharmaseuticals have never been free, neither are they supposed to be. If someone orders Viagra from the net, because he’s embarrased to speak to a doctor about it, that’s his right. If he’s ready to take the risk of eating something else, that it says on the label, that’s also his right. Public healtcare has nothing whatsoever to do with that.
Comment by Anna-Leena — Tue, Aug 28th, 2007 @ 12:29 pm
What???? You don’t have free drugs??????
So just where is your so called low cost medical system putting all that money?
By the way, my drugs are free… Ha Ha Ha (I have overlapping coverage and have yet to pay for any drugs, even a co-pay this year)
Comment by winter “Yea, Proton Power, now in remission†— Tue, Aug 28th, 2007 @ 1:35 pm
There’s no such thing as a free drug, winter. You paid them years ago through insurance fees.
Comment by Pave — Wed, Aug 29th, 2007 @ 6:43 pm