Readers know that we have been diligently critical of the anti-Hindu cultural & religious bias that lies deep within the New York Times. But even in our most intense articles about the NYT, we have steadfastly recognized NYT’s true strength – investigative reporting that exposes what is horrifically wrong & abusive. It has been our hope that the NYT would use this strength in their coverage of India.
Finally the New York did that. Their expose of what American Drug companies do in a country like India will chill you. In their article Driven to Suicide by an ‘Inhuman and Unnatural’ Pressure to Sell, the New York Times writes:
- “A six-month investigation by The New York Times found that in the push to win customers in India’s chaotic and highly competitive drug market, some Abbott managers instructed employees to pursue sales at virtually any cost — in violation of Indian law, professional medical standards and the company’s own ethics guidelines“.
What was one of the “at any cost” practices at Abbott?
- “In one of the most common practices, The Times found, Abbott managers told sales staff to hold what the company called health camps, where representatives would perform tests on patients for various ailments in an effort to drum up business for doctors, who would then prescribe Abbott drugs. The camps were typically held at doctor’s offices or as community events”.
This article about Abbott in India is a must read. Unfortunately, it is only a tip of the iceberg. We have written for years that India is only an electocracy and not a democracy. The Indian people only matter when elections come around and their votes are needed. After the elections, the voters are forgotten and the coterie of Government officials, the Judiciary, Corporate executives & the media elite refocus on making money for themselves.
Read this story in the New York Times and ask why none of the Indian Newspapers ever did this story; ask why none of the Indian TV networks ever do such investigative stories; ask why the Indian Judiciary & Executive Branch have never developed laws like class action lawsuits to impose severe damages on such abusive corporations, both foreign & domestic.
Because no one cares and because the needs of the Indian people, both middle class and poor, are completely & utterly irrelevant to the elite that run India. How irrelevant? Look at what Abbott paid the widow of their employee whom Abbott drove to his death?
- “After Mr. Awasthi’s death, Abbott gave his family a check for 345,000 rupees, about $5,000, which included his salary and allowances for July, various reimbursements, as well as a “gratuity.” Though Ms. Awasthi does not work and needs money, she has refused to cash it”.
Why not?
- “He died because of them,” she said. “They must take responsibility.”
If Abbott values their employee’s life at $5,000, how much value does Abbott place on lives of poor Indian patients that are needlessly prescribed Abbott drugs by Abbott-incentivized physicians?
Whose side is the Obama Administration on? Look at TPP – President Obama’s favorite trade treaty to get the answer. That treaty was negotiated by America’s corporations, principally by American Drug companies, to overrule Asian governments in case the governments act to protect their citizens from US corporations. If Abbott can do what is already doing in India without the TPP, what can Abbott & its fellow Drug companies in countries that have signed the TPP?
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