Cipro? - Just follow the money.... to the GOP
   by Bill Satyr
 

The present Republican administration have yet again sold out our nation's best interest for cash. That cash consists
of OUR tax money being paid to Bayer and a portion being "donated" back to the Republican party.

Let's start by debunking the "Cipro is the only anti-Anthrax drug" myth:
>From a print only article by Marc Siegel, a physician on the faculty of New York University (1)
 
"Why Cipro? What the drug comapny (Bayer) is not telling either patient or doctor is that Cipro was originally tested
as an alternative treatment for Anthrax only for Penicillin-allergic patients. Antibiotics have never been properly tested
for prophylaxis, so Cipro's usefulness for prevention is speculative, though there is clearly some rationale for prophylaxing patients with close exposure.  But doxycycline, a generic, is just as effective and costs one-tenth of what Cipro costs.
A month's supply of Cipro costs more than $300 (Note: The cost can be as low as $240 from some sources) the equivalent amount of doxy is $32. In fact there are multiple antibiotics available with similar efficacy, many of which are cheaper."

So why did the Tommy Thompson agree to buy a huge amount of Cipro at a discount?
Take a look at this article:

"Bayer Halves Price for Cipro, but Rivals Offer Drugs Free"
>From the New York Times, 10/26/01 (2)

Bayer offered to charge our government a mere 95 cents a pill for a hundred million dollars worth of Cipro.
The standard dose is 2 a day for 30 or 60 days, so this is still much more costly than doxycycline. Bayer declined
to talk about the 75 to 85 Million dollars profit they have made on this deal.

" I was smiling going in because how often in your life do you and your company have an opportunity to make
a difference," said Helge H. Wehmeier, Bayer's chief executive of American operations, who refused to discuss
whether Bayer was making a profit on the deal.

"Agnes Varis, president of Agvar Chemicals, a pharmaceutical trading company in Little Falls, N.J., said
ciprofloxacin costs 12.5 cents to 20 cents a tablet in global markets."

Notice that "12.5 cents to 20 cents a tablet" is the cost to the consumer, not the production cost and therefore
some portion of this amount is additional profit for Bayer. Why mug the US tax payers to make Bayer a windfall profit?
Aren't we the people Thompson is supposed to be protecting? Where do you think some of the money goes?
A good chunk of cash goes back to the Republican party!

Let's check out Helge "No comment on profits for Bayer" Wehmeier. The FEC information on his "gifts" to the
GOP are archived. (3) It turns out that he is just one of many Bayer corporate officers who are political donors
to the GOP. Check the list of VPs who personally donated to Bush, the GOP and to Bayer's PAC.
The vast majority of the Bayer PAC's donations went to the GOP and ..... Gary Condit.
 

WEHMEIER, HELGE
1/25/00 $3,000.00
SEWICKLEY, PA 15143
BAYER CORPORATION -[Contribution]
BAYER CORPORATION POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE
In turn donated to >>>>> HENRY J. HYDE FOR CONGRESS COMMITTEE HSE-REP IL/06
03/10/99 $2,000.00 contribution made
BOB BARR-CONGRESS
HSE-REP GA/07
04/26/99 $1,000.00 contribution made - View Image
07/24/00 $2,000.00 contribution made
COMMITTEE TO ELECT LINDSEY GRAHAM HSE-REP SC/03
08/16/00 $2,500.00 contribution made - View Image
03/11/99 $1,000.00 contribution made
 

WEHMEIER, HELGE H
6/9/99 $1,000.00
SEWICKLEY, PA 15143
BAYER CORP -[Contribution]
BUSH FOR PRESIDENT INC
 

WEHMEIER, HELGE H
9/9/00 $1,000.00
SEWICKLEY, PA 15143
BAYER CORP -[Contribution]
LAZIO 2000 INC
 

Wehmeier, Helge H. Mr.
4/5/99 $1,000.00
Pittsburgh, PA 15205
Bayer Corporation -[Contribution]
AMERICAN CHEMISTRY COUNCIL POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE
-ALSO DBA AS CHEMICAL MANU ASSO PAC
2/21/00 $1,000.00
Pittsburgh, PA 15205
Bayer Corporation/President and CEO -[Contribution]
AMERICAN CHEMISTRY COUNCIL POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE
-ALSO DBA AS CHEMICAL MANU ASSO PAC
In turn donated to >>>> BUSH FOR PRESIDENT INC REP
07/29/99 $2,513.00 in-kind contribution made
07/22/99 $860.00 in-kind contribution made
 

Other than price. there are other good reasons not to use Cipro as the drug of choice in possible Anthrax spore
exposure cases. Significant side effects are known to include diarrhea, rash, colitis and gastrointestinal bleeding.
Insomnia affects 5% of Cipro users. Excess use of Cipro has already caused loss of effectiveness as micro
organisms have become resistant to the drug.

So here are the facts:
   * Cipro is not the best antibiotic to treat Anthrax cases or Anthrax spore exposure cases.
   * Cipro costs five to ten times as much as the generic alternative, Doxycycline, which maybe be a better choice
      of medication from the stand point of side effects and drug resistance of microbes.
   * There are valid alternative antibiotics that have been offered for free (yes, zero cents per tablet)
   * The GOP have chosen to give Bayer a windfall profit of at least $75 million dollars.

The apparent reason for this gouging is the vast amount of money that Bayer has kicked back to the GOP over the years.

All of this highlights the failure of the political contribution laws (a bribe by any other name), the failure of the mainstream
media to look deepr than a twenty second sound bite and the failure of the Democrats to challenge administration
decisions that are not in the best intrest of our country.

References:
(1) "Profits of Fear" by Marc Siegel MD, 11/05/01 cover date, "The Nation"
(2) http://www.nytimes.com/2001/10/26/business/26CIPR.html?ex=1005068556&ei=1&en=d
(3) From searchable FEC data base at http://www.tray.com/fecinfo/