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Politics : Sharks in the Septic Tank -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Lane3 who wrote (11082)	4/12/2001 9:58:36 AM
From: Lane3	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 82486

A survey on faith-based social services. azstarnet.com nytimes.com pewforum.org

To: Lane3 who wrote (11082)	4/12/2001 1:36:21 PM
From: The Philosopher	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 82486

Slightly off topic but much, heard on NPR this morning the claim that the two most lucrative prescribed drugs sold today have nothing to do with physical health. They are Viagra and Propeia (sp? the baldness drug). The interviewee was angry that the drug companies are not concentrating less true health issues--drug resistent bacteria, things like that--and more on lifestyle drugs. She was saying they are all frantically working for the true blockbuster drug -- the pill that safely and effectively removes fat from the body. In line with this, the last U.S. manufacturer of the tetanus vaccine has dropped out of the market because it's only marginally profitable. Here is a truly effective, safe, vital drug that saves lives that is no longer being made because curing baldness is much more profitable. Which category birth control benefits come under is a debatable question. Birth control is, after all, at heart a lifestyle issue. 1: if you don't have sex, you won't get pregnant, and 2: condoms are cheaper than birth control pills. OTOH, it's a lot cheaper to provide birth control pills than to cover a pregnancy, so purely as a pragmatic issue (which should appeal to conservatives) it's penny wise and pound foolish to drop birth control benefits.