tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8201135635389124969.post1101286173173863190..comments2010-02-03T09:52:29.846+05:30Salil Kallianpurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11030700898626769285noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8201135635389124969.post-1410860095289670112008-04-22T16:57:00.000+05:302008-04-22T16:57:00.000+05:30I don’t think ‘being the creator’ of the problem decides culpability. Hunger and thirst were not created by man but those who profiteer by hoarding food or controlling water resources, are very much culpable and are indeed punished under most laws. So if the healthcare industry profiteers by the existence of disease then it is to that extent partner-in-crime. At what exact point does profit-making become ‘profiteering’ – is a value-based question … and sadly, the values of a society change only after tragedies happen.<BR/><BR/>We may not be certain about the extent of profiteering by healthcare companies. But we can be sure of one thing … driven for profits, the industry has consciously pursued more and more expensive means of solving healthcare problems in preference to less expensive ones. The industry’s operating logic has been such that less expensive means of attaining better health have been systematically ignored and only the more expensive options were explored through massive R&D budgets. Much of the ‘R&D Expense’ that the industry likes to talk about, was strategically created as an entry barrier to keep out players operating on smaller investments, who could have offered cheaper though effective healthcare solutions.Mukeshnoreply@blogger.com