I apologize for posting this here. Maybe it seems inappropriate on this forum, but, at this point, it’s the most cosmopolitan community I know. The story is that I came across this article https://www.theguardian.com/news/2016/apr/13/how-boots-went-rogue probably a month ago and it made me think that Russia and the UK have slightly different healthcare systems, but they faced the same problems. After this article I see all pharmacists like those families from the web site “Dollar Street” https://www.gapminder.org/dollar-street/matrix When you see it from inside we are on the same street. Particularly in this article the entire pharmaceutical system went rogue in the UK, but more interestingly, it all went rogue not only in the UK. Here in Russia the pharmacists encounter the same problems. Has anybody heard of it in your country? Are these problems the same in your country? For me, personally, it’s very interesting how these issues develop in different countries.
sadly, critical journalism, especially concerning corporation, is a scarce thing in this region (asean).
i haven’t heard personally such cases in indonesia. indonesians are now grappling with the ‘leviathan’ that is a healthcare system which cost seem to double every few years.
so for many indonesians, it is the state that has gone rogue. probably related corporations too, but not much information about it.
The case of Boots is very striking. A pharmacy becoming a supermarket of chemical products. That is the best way to boost sales of pharmaceuticals, tapping in the consumeristic behaviour.
Cases in other countries may not be that clear and loud, but the strategy is the same. In Italy, for instance, TV adds on drugs (and most often useless drugs) cover a very substantial part of the advertising sector. People are brought to be very sensitive about their physical states (if not hypocondriac) and are pushed to compulsively consume drugs to attain a desired psycho-physical condition in a fast and painless way.
Only almost related, I came across this today: