The Citizens United decision was actively applied to the permission received from the Robert's Court in regard to invasion of privacy of citizens as it applies to their perscription use and to some extent their medication preferences. The information was for marketing purposes and violates privacy laws.
I never gave permission for my personal information to be used for marketing. Quite the contrary, I fully expect my personal use of anything to be private and if I want to market it through surveys and the like, then it is mine to do.
The Sorrel Ruling was to benefit Big Pharma. It is just that simple. It is an agenda item of the Robert's Court, it is obvious and it hacks away at a citizen's privacy rights in favor of extending corporations' control over information to benefit itself. The ruling places corporation interests AHEAD of citizen's privacy rights in a similar way the Citizen United decision assailed the citizen.
This information would not be available unless the privacy of an entire population was known. The ability now to market and control information to patients and medication users is directly influenced by this decision. It taints the doctor-patient relationship. Patients and doctors are now aware of the influence of corporations in the information gathered and it can have an impact on the decisions and medications people use. An increase in HIV medication in the country will not only send up red flags, but, will trigger awareness of such trends. It will effect people in the work place as companies paying insurance costs for their employees will want to be aware of such trends. This information will be used to demand higher insurance payments to companies and their employees.
The Sorrel Ruling puts corporations on a higher plain than the citizen as did The Citizens United decision.
The U.S. Supreme Court (click here) has now ruled that a practice known as pharmaceutical data mining, the processing and sale of information about which doctor has prescribed which drugs, is “speech” protected under the first amendment...
Here again it is a matter of "Freedom of Speech" for corporations. The next question is, can corporations require this information from physicians, of has the potential to increase their costs to their patients. Patients will potentially be paying the marketing costs of Big Pharm through this ruling. It is outrageous. The Robert's Court is corrupt and the people of the USA are held hostage to this exploitation by obstructionist Republicans bought and paid for by the Citizens United decision.
The citizens of the USA are losing their freedoms, their jobs, their income, their unions and their homes to the Plutocrats. The Citizens United decision came after the corrupt global economic collapse of 2008 providing more power to corporations and not less. It handed 'citizen' standing to corporations while the Middle Class lost everything they owned. Did this decision add jobs (which is not suppose to be a function of the Supreme Court anyway) ?
Before the ruling:
Pharmaceutical industry braces for more job losses (click here)
Linda A. Johnson
Associated Press
Sunday, April 6, 2008
...Since 2007, eight of the world's biggest drug makers have announced the elimination of more than 42,000 jobs; two other major companies have eliminated another 12,200 jobs in the last few years.
"There are a lot of things going on making this the perfect storm for the industry," said Argus Research health care analyst Martha Freitag. "My sense is maybe we're halfway through" the cost-cutting.
Today's struggles come after the industry's golden era in the 1990s, when a slew of new drugs quickly became blockbusters, fueling almost routine double-digit quarterly profit increases and rising stock prices and dividends....
"There are a lot of things going on making this the perfect storm for the industry," said Argus Research health care analyst Martha Freitag. "My sense is maybe we're halfway through" the cost-cutting.
Today's struggles come after the industry's golden era in the 1990s, when a slew of new drugs quickly became blockbusters, fueling almost routine double-digit quarterly profit increases and rising stock prices and dividends....
After the ruling:
Pharma Job Cuts Are On The Rise Again (click here)
By Ed Silverman
August 4th, 2010
7:43 am
...As we have noted before, however, it remains possible the picture is even worse, because the report may not capture every lost job. Layoffs often occur in dribs and drabs, which means some job losses do not land on radar screens monitored by the media or state labor departments, which require notice when a certain number of jobs are to be eliminated. Moreover, this approach to layoffs will continue for the foreseeable future, so getting a true picture remains challenging. UPDATE: Merck, however, has disclosed to the New Jersey Department of Labor that another 90 jobs will soon be lost.
