Pharma’s ‘ Henchbloggers‘
posted Fri, 10 Sep 2010The pharmaceutical companies in America want all the privileges and benefits of a free market without the burdens of competition. Pharma will to go to any length to insure their monopolistic stranglehold on American consumers.
Recently Pharma has employed a variation on a phenomenon known as “Internet memes” targeting international online pharmacies. At its most basic an “ Internet meme”, is simply the propagation of a message by digital file or hyperlink, from one place to another using; email, blogs, social networks sites, instant messaging,… among many other possibilities. Pharma and its’ cohorts have no doubt enlisted the help of an online strategy firm; of professional bloggers and posters who have besieged prescription drug re-importation websites with postings, links to their blogs, and spam. These professional “henchbloggers” are prolific, one called “pharmalert” appears to have posted nearly 1.5 million posts and does over 900 per day!
The result is a robo network of misinformation relentlessly churning 24/7. The one common thread in this campaign is the assertion that all re-importation sites are criminal, illegal, pharmacy fraud operations. Claims like this, even repeated 1.5 million times, don’t make them true. Ostensibly they assert these claims because these international web site pharmacies are not licensed or sanctioned by the FDA. The fact is the FDA doesn’t have the authority to license or sanction any pharmacy, online or otherwise, outside of the U.S. In fact, one of the easiest ways to spot a bogus pharmacy web site from outside the country is if it claims to be licensed or approved by the U.S. FDA (see rogue pharmacy article).
The reality is the brethren that make up Pharma fear America’s embrace of the market potential of the Internet. This insider’s club certainly doesn’t want to nurture the idea of price comparisons, nor do they want to embrace the idea of international markets.
The Internet is the purest international marketplace for prescription drugs that the world has ever seen, and the amazing power of such a level playing field has placed consumers in the driver’s seat - and Pharma and its’ friends at peril. Pharma and its’ pals continue to attempt to thwart this amazing market tool, and stifle competition by embracing tactics like “Internet memes” and “henchbloggers.” The depths to which Pharma will stoop are almost equal to the depths of their pockets!
Have you seen a reputable pharmacy trashed by these tactics? Tell us your story!