Editorial

Healthcare Deform

September 3, 2009

President, Pharma & Biopharma Outsourcing Association

I’ve done a bang-up job of staying out of this summer’s rancorous “debates” over healthcare reform, and plan to stay on that path. So don’t try to get me wound up.

The thing is, I don’t doubt the sincerity of citizens on both sides of the issue, but I just can’t stand the shouting. (Oh, look! He’s getting wound up!) I’ve written before how people love to act as though This Very Moment is the most important one. I guess it makes us feel important when we imagine that Everything Will Fall Apart without our valiant contribution/sacrifice.

It was less than a year ago (see this space in November/ December 2008) that I pleaded for some perspective, railing against the notion that the current moment – whatever it is – will extend into forever. I wrote:

[The 2002 and 2004 elections] hearkened the era of the “Permanent Republican Majority.” Demographics and a superior grassroots organization meant that the GOP would run Congress forever, and hold the White House more often than not.

Or not. By 2006, the GOP was cratering and the pendulum had swung to the Democrats. By the time you read this, the Dems may have reached a majority that the GOP could only dream of. This will likely be called the Permanent Progressive Era or something equally inane.

On cue, Democratic strategist James Carville recently published 40 More Years: How the Democrats Will Rule the Next Generation, ensuring that the party will lose its majority by 2012.

Now, even though I try to keep my moods from swinging with that pendulum, I understand the blind charm of trying to influence its motion or stop it altogether. My “left” and “right” activist friends and acquaintances need to feel that they’re immersed in a battle for Our Very Future, that they’re not just along for the ride.

Still, I have a hard time getting over my belief that most of this kerfluffle – in fact, most activity among our elected representatives – is theater. According to parliamentary rules, the Team A could push through their version of a healthcare bill over the objections of Team B. If their goal was simply to get this bill passed, they’d give up on compromise and force it through. But the goal in Washington isn’t passage of a bill, no matter how “crucial to our nation’s future.” The goal is to hold onto power.

To that end, I’d love to have a polygraph moment with each of our representatives and senators – on both sides – and ask them the following question:

If you could pass/scuttle healthcare reform, but you knew with 100% certainty that you would be voted out of office if you did so, would you still do it?

Nah, I didn’t think so.

Social Networking

I have a confession to make: Twitter was my first “You crazy kids and your new-fangled technology!” moment. I was a year or so behind the curve on Facebook, and I’m still convinced MySpace is more of a music/youth-culture phenomenon, but I was absolutely befuddled by the utility and ubiquity of Twitter.

In my May column, I mentioned that I’m just way too wordy to handle Twitter’s 140-character limit, but then I realized that Goethe only needed 62 characters to write, “Whoever aspires to great things must be able to limit himself,” so I decided to give it a shot!

Follow us at twitter.com/contractpharma for breaking news, links to online exclusive stories, conference updates, announcements about new issues going online, and the occasional pharma-related one-liner, like:

Why is PhRMA negotiating with the White House on healthcare reform? Well, if you’re not at the table, then you’re probably on the menu.

In addition, you can join the Contract Pharma group on LinkedIn (it’s at http://bit.ly/I12kz), where we try to foment discussions about outsourcing news and garner members’ opinions on business trends and topics we should explore in the magazine. If you want to be involved in the conversation over pharma / biopharma contract services and outsourcing, that’s a great place to start.

And if we ever start a band, we’ll put it on MySpace.