Drug Industry

Colby Cosh links and comments on this article by Derek Lowe about how a lot of Americans are going up to Canada to buy the same drugs there because they are cheaper. He basically suggests that we shouldn’t follow the Canadian drug plan model because it doesn’t lead to ingenuity in the end.

Well, I think he does a good job of explaining this position and I agree with him in several respects, except for one major point: to my knowledge, the Canadian Government does not subsidize drugs. At least, that is what a pharmacist friend told me. I may have to double check on that, but I was always under the impression that lower liability insurance was the cause of the lower prices in Canada.

Colby also ends with a good point:

Perhaps we'll legislate the drugs to be cheap as they are in Canada, oh happy day. But before we do that, I'd like for people to know that I work with a number of talented Canadian researchers. We have folks from Newfoundland to Vancouver; all I have to do is go up and down the hall to cover the whole country. Doubtless several of them would prefer to have stayed and worked in the country they grew up in. It's not like Canada lacks the infrastructure--there are plenty of high tech companies up there, of course. But those companies are allowed to charge what they think the market will bear. What Canada doesn't have, for some reason, is a drug industry.

I couldn’t agree with this any more. Canada, for as advanced a nation as it is, has little drug industry. I’m speaking as someone who used to work in the Canadian healthcare field and who still has contacts (i.e. family members) in it. I’ll give one example. My father is good friends with a CEO of a Canadian start-up drug company based in Edmonton. For the sake of anonymity, I will not mention the name of the company. This firm had some really promising research, especially in the cancer field. The problem was the lack of funding. They just couldn’t get enough capital from within Canada to fund their research, so branched out to the US and Europe for money. While the company is still based in Edmonton, they do a lot of their R&D in the US (in Central New Jersey, to be more specific) now.

Point is that Canadian start-ups don’t have the right climate to thrive up there, so they must branch out or even relocate to other places to garner more success. Canada does lag behind other nations when it comes to drug-related research; the US, Europe (more specifically Germany, the UK and Switzerland) and even Japan have been doing some great things in the pharmaceutical industry. Quite a tragedy, really, considering it’s a waste of so much potential.

Update: Just heard from a very reliable source that the company is in a lot of trouble and has been losing a lot of money since its conception. Also, they never really had a large US presence to begin with, just an office to attract investment.

Now, in no way shape or form am I suggesting that the fact that the majority of this company’s operations are in Canada is the cause of its financial malaise. But I do find it somewhat interesting that a pharmaceutical company can be losing so much money as they are traditionally stable and profitable. This is, indeed, perplexing.

Apologies

Sorry again for taking this long to post something. Last week was quite hectic.

In any case, it is a completely miserable day here in New York. It’s absolutely drenching with rain, and we’re talking about the heavy downpour type. Not only that, I recently found out that I did not get that one job I had the interview for. I thought the interview went well, though brief as I only met up with the human resources manager, but I guess they didn’t think I had the right background for the job. I’m somewhat bummed out about it as it was a good job, but I didn’t particularly want to work in Lower Manhattan again. At least not until the new WTC is on its way to being completed.

Also been having some girl troubles recently. That’s probably been downing me the most.

Leaving Paradise?

This is a great link from Marmot’s Hole about South Korean emigration to Western countries like the U.S. Having spent a great deal of time in Korea last summer and knowing quite a few Korean friends, I can say with pretty good certainty that the contents of this article are indeed true.

My trip to Korea last summer was eye-opening on many fronts. Not only was it the only place where I experienced overt racism, but it was also the only other place (aside from Canada) where I saw the clearest examples of blatant hypocrisy.

Koreans, as a whole, are atrociously culturally aware and very proud people. This pride often borders xenophobia, especially among the younger generations. The “anti-American” protests that plagued South Korea last fall are case and point. I have a difficult time believing this sentiment is merely based on past actions by the “American imperialists” as most foreigners (I’m a Canadian national as well) of any background do feel somewhat uncomfortable and have felt in some way the racist tendencies of many in Korea.

This is what makes this article ever the more ironic – if Koreans are supposed to be a proud people and proud of their culture (and those protests alluded to this), then why are so many of them leaving in drones?

Upon closer inspection of the article, you’ll notice that the people who are emigrating are of the upper class and of about middle age. Indeed, most of my friends remaining in Korea fit this category.

Some of my best friends in college were from Korea and were pretty well-to-do. I went to Korea to visit one of them last summer and I was quite shocked at their reactions and feelings towards his homeland. Most people of that group I spoke to were completely fed up with the way of life there. Indeed, Korea can be a stressful place. In a nutshell, it’s crowded, working there entails long hours and it’s an extremely competitive place. And I won’t even go into the details of the rigorous school system there which has led to a fairly high suicide rate among the youth. Ultimately, most of my friends there longed for an easier pace of life and wanted to leave. My friend from college only went back because his parents cut off his funding because they were worried that he would never leave Canada and go back to Korea.

Again, one of my friends here is a paralegal for a Korean immigration lawyer in Flushing, Queens, which has large Korean population. He tells me that almost all of the people who come in on education visas overstay their visas. Because the INS (I guess now the Department of Homeland Security, since they took over that agency) doesn’t perceive Koreans as a threat to national security and because Koreans are generally hard-working, productive and law-abiding people, they don’t really care about the overstay and they let them be.

Personally, I don’t really view it as a problem for the US. In fact, it’s probably a great boon to this society as I feel Koreans have much to offer and will ultimately make this country a better place. I admire them in many ways and, of course, I absolutely love Korean food and think Korean girls are attractive.

This is a problem for Korea, however. With the wealthy, innovative and most educated class leaving the country, it doesn’t bode too well for Korea's future. This especially true if you’re left with the dregs, such as those protestors.

It’s very indicative of Korea today and one of the reasons I think Roh Min-hyun was elected.

This is bitter-sweet for me. I love Korea as a country and think it’s an incredible place with a lot of potential and I am saddened to see some of the best of that nation leave. On the other hand, I completely welcome them into this country with open arms. As I mentioned above, I believe they have much to offer to this society and will make the US and whatever other country they choose to go to a better place in the short term and long. The fact that it is now the upper and innovative class rather now than the lower coming here only will only improve our fortunes.

Welcome aboard!

A Little Warning!

And if you guys wanna see what I look like, here is a pic. Don't say I didn't warn you!

Sorry!

Apologies, my friends, for not posting for such a while. Things have been atrociously busy the last little while and I’ve been in and out of town for the last two weeks.

Unfortunately, it seems that the move to Newark has fallen through, but it doesn’t mean I won’t be moving to NJ solo in the near future. It has to do with my friend not wanting a roommate and wanting to go on his own. Sucks, but that’s life.

In other news, I have an interview next week with a company that does financial services research. That’s cool because research is more up my ally and I vastly enjoy doing that more than anything else, especially if it puts me out of the spotlight -- I like being in the background more than anything. This company seems really good, but it is based in Lower Manhattan and I am, admittedly, paranoid about working there again. Chalk it up to obvious bad memories (i.e. 9/11). I would prefer working in New Jersey or Long Island, but if this turns out to be a good opportunity, I would be stupid to turn it down. Then again, this job deals mostly with communications technology, which I know next to nothing about. I just hope the interview goes well and that is all I can ask for.

But much has gone on in my absence. Apparently, my favorite columnist, Mark Steyn, was fired by the National Post, which was my favorite Canadian daily. I guess I won’t be checking it out as often anymore. It’s sad because it was once the lone bastion of common sense in the Canadian media, but that has quickly changed since Leftist media mongrel Izzy Asper bought the paper. So much has been said about Steyn’s dismissal that I won’t bother commenting further.

Also, Pieter talks about Canadian and US competitiveness. I agree with his comments wholeheartedly and will not be adding any more to what he’s already said because he’s done an outstanding job of touching base on everything already.

So, you will see more posting. Apparently, much has been going on in Korea and I will try to comment on that.

Ewwww!

Got this link from Tony. I think my title says it all...*shudder*

Tit for Tat

Much has been made about the new motion by France, German, Belgium and Luxemburg to create a new defense arrangement (Link via. Steven Den Beste). Quite honestly, I am not too surprised that they would go ahead with such an idea. After all, these were vehemently against the war and France, the lead instigator of this, pulled out just about all stops to prevent the war from happening. They’re pissed and this is probably the best way to vent themselves. Besides, it’s difficult to say whether their intentions are serious or half-hearted.

This, however, comes as a complete surprise. The gist of this article is that Italy, Spain and Britain are alarmed by France and her friends’ proposal and are threatening to form a defense alliance of their own.

All is not well in the EU “family”, it appears.

Personally, I find France’s actions to be hypocritical and downright divisive. They, for one, publicly chided EU members (and prospective members) for siding with the US in the Iraq crisis. One of their major complaints was that theses “rogue” nations were not acting as party of the “family”.

So what is the EU “family”?

From Chirac’s earlier remarks, it seems to be anything that revolves around France and the EU’s ability to act in France’s whim. Hardly the multilateral and cohesive engine that it was first conceived to be.

Many have mentioned that France has lost a lot of say in the world and they’re using multilateral institutions like the UN and EU to magnify their power. France is a veto-wielding Security Council member, but it only has something like 55 million people. India, Bangladesh, Japan, Brazil and Pakistan have around a hundred million people or more, yet they have little say of what goes on in the Security Council and are, in effect, powerless in the UN mold. Australian PM John Howard is even quoted as saying (links don’t work anymore) that France should be replaced by another country (he suggested either India or Japan) which has a large population and a more relevant and realistic approach to world affairs.

The UN and the Security Council are products of WWII and really need to be restructured to represent the changing face of threats in this dynamic, yet unstable world. India, though still poor, has grown into a technological powerhouse and possesses a powerful army, as well as nuclear weapons. Japan is an economic superpower and contributes more to the UN than any other nation aside from the US and their generosity should be rewarded accordingly.

What has France done and what do they contribute today?

Well, France’s (continuing) actions seem to threaten European and world stability. I don’t recall a time when the EU was as divided as it is today. If it gets to the point where two groups of nations within a single political union are proposing to create two different and, by definition opposing, military unions, then you know something is amiss.

I find both proposals to be quite silly, in all honesty. I think it’s just the result of a lot of accumulating hot air and rhetoric and it needs to be blown out in some way. After all, they are just proposals and negotiations and, so far, nothing has been set in stone.

But it all remains to be seen. If this “tit for tat” behavior continues in the long term, I don’t like the prospects of the EU surviving.

New Blogs Added

Just added three new blogs the last couple of days: Madderblog (conservative Canadian who is an excellent writer and presents his views very well), Bigwhiteguy (a Canadian expat living in Hong Kong -- he's hillarious! A must read!!) and Marmot's Hole (American expat in Korea -- I'm totally enthralled with Korea and Korean politics, and he does an outstanding job of commenting on life there). Links are on the left, so do enjoy!

SARS in Toronto: Continued…

I just found this blogger called Maderblog. I’m assuming he’s Canadian because he has a lot of topics on Canada. Anyways, he says that it’s not really a surprise that Toronto was affected much worse than other Western cities with huge Asian populations because the GTA area health officials didn’t really pay attention to the warnings about the disease sent out in February. He even links a Mark Steyn editorial on this topic.

Most of my family in Canada works in the healthcare field. For the most part, I think they’re quite competent in what they do. I do have this one cousin who is a doctor in BC that I’d never, ever, under any circumstances, even if it would save my life let treat me. I just don’t trust him and I don’t think he’s competent enough should be a doctor. But I’d feel very safe if cared by the rest.

One of my uncles is a leading neurological specialist in Toronto. He’s damn good at what he does. I haven’t heard from him in a while, so I don’t know the gist of the feeling among the Toronto medical community regarding SARS. I’d be curious to hear from him if Maderblog’s comments have any merit.

Nonetheless, given my experience with many Torontonians’ “my shit don’t stink” demeanor, Maderblog’s claims would not come as a complete surprise. Their reaction to the WHO’s travel advisory was pretty poor. And you can’t laud the Canadian Government’s handling of the case, which was atrocious. It also makes me wonder why the disease is so bad there compared to Vancouver, which has almost as large (larger in terms of proportions) an Asian population as Toronto. Maybe the BC health authorities paid better attention to begin with?

Makes you wonder…

Correction

I spoke (stupid links not working again) the other day about the funding of Canada’s healthcare system. I basically said that the Federal Government wields too much control by attaching too many strings on the funding they provide. Well, I stand somewhat corrected. I spoke to my father -- a healthcare economist -- the other day and he told me that while the Federal Government does have some say in how the money should be spent, it isn’t nearly as much as the provinces claim. This is somewhat exaggerated by some of the premiers to reinforce public opinion to their camp. There are still some outstanding issues that must be solved and the provinces still want a greater say, but this isn’t as big an issue as it should be.

My father did mention though that provinces seem to be carrying a much greater burden of the healthcare costs these days compared to before. So maybe a burgeoning issue to be dealt with? Time will tell.

Places in Newark, New Jersey?

One more thing to add for tonight. I mentioned before that I might be moving to New Jersey later this summer. Well, that "might" has turned into "definitely". I need some help finding an apartment. It looks like I'll be moving in the beginning of August. I’m specifically looking for a place in the city of Newark, preferably the Ironbound neighborhood, close to Seton Hall University. My future roommate will be going there for law school, so it’s more his request than mine, but Newark is much cheaper than Queens and I’d like to cut my rent bill substantially. Furthermore, Newark’s a pretty central location in Northern New Jersey and a good place to commute from.

Problem is that Newark has a bad reputation for crime and I’d like to be in a decent area of the city. If there is anyone familiar with that area of the city and its real estate, especially the Ironbound, please contact me!

Thanks!

Been out of town for a few days and I just got back. I'll try to resume some posting tomorrow, but I've come back to a new host of responsibilities that must be taken care of by early this week.

Also, anyone know of a quick way to quit smoking? I'm been doing this much too heavily lately and I think it's about time to kick the habit. It’s also way too expensive in New York City now and I’m tired of having to go all the way to New Jersey to stock up.

Thanks!