We all heard the saying that "History repeats itself"; so let's go back to the early 1900's when everyone was sick from polio. If the vaccine for polio was never created half of today's population would not exist. The evolution of diseases and epidemics is what has given rise to the pharmaceutical industry and thankfully so because we would still be worried about dieing from a common cold than from A.I.D.S.

Of course all of us feel that pharmaceutical companies are capitalizing on the sick consumer but let's look beyond the industry. Let's look at our government. We are the ONLY country in the world that puts the responsibility of health care into the citizens hands. You have no money? Too bad; go on the Medicaid line and get coverage. You have no ride to the Medicaid line? Too bad; borrow money and put yourself in debt if your health is worth it to you. You are old and need insurance to expand your life expectancy? No problem; just make sure you fall into the too little or too much income bracket of Medicare so that you don't fall in the "black hole" of non-coverage.

The main issue here is are we as a society taking care of ourselves enough to not feed the "capitalism beast". I think not. The United States has the highest rate of adult and adolescent obesity and yet we are worried about the pharmaceutical companies creating a capitalism rather that fighting the McDonald's-like chains to stop making our children fat. Or maybe we should go after the technology companies because if you are sitting here reading this post you most likely did not get your recommended 20 minutes of exercises to promote your health and well being.

So before we point the finger at the supplier let us take a honest look at the consumers and start fixing the problem at the core.

Learn more about this author, Olga Jelic.
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