Drug Company Rip Off Of The Day Number 4

Black people have been given the shaft in this country for a long time. Brought here in chains to do all the backbreaking, menial jobs we didn't realize Mexicans would come here voluntarily to do, they and their descendants were held in bondage for over two centuries before being "freed" into the arms of Jim Crow, who made sure they wouldn't do things with their freedom like vote, get good jobs, or ever address a white person without using the word "sir." It wasn't until the late 1960's that you could even to begin to make an argument that a black person had a shot at achieving what a white kid takes for granted. The effects of discrimination continue today, as when we see that African-Americans are 30% more likely to die of heart disease, 1.6 times as likely to have diabetes, and 2.5 times more likely to have a child that will die before it's first birthday. Makes me proud to be a cracker. Not really.

The good folks at Nitromed are doing something about these numbers though. Their new drug, Bidil, is the first medicine specifically indicated for a particular racial group. This blockbuster combination of hydralazine and isosorbide dinitrate has been shown to reduce mortality from heart failure in African-Americans by 43% over current standard therapy. Yay.

Except that somewhere out there a retired 120 year old pharmacist, nurse, or doctor just saw the words "hydralazine" and/or "isosorbide" and was taken back to the happy days of their youth. You see, neither one of the drugs in Bidil is new. The only breakthrough is the idea that the combination of the two might be of some benefit to black folks. If you're wondering why it took so long for someone to try this, read the first paragraph again. There is also a new and improved (for Nitromed) price. According to the New York Times, Nitromed has set the price for Bidil at $1.80 a tablet, meaning a months supply at the usual starting dose will set you back $162. You can buy a months supply of the two meds separately at drugstore.com for around $37. So while Nitromed may get some points for a rip-off disguised as good intentions, you can see Bidil is just another plot to keep the black man down.