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Elon's arbitrary and uniformed comments and anecdotes about Medical tech are as bad as anything Pharma is doing. I wonder if he considers GSK's arbitrary promo

Elon's arbitrary and uniformed comments and anecdotes about Medical tech are as bad as anything Pharma is doing. I wonder if he considers GSK's arbitrary promotion of their products as 'free speech' as well? There's a staggering lack of self awareness with this guy on this issue. There are zillions of fanboys and people 'influenced' by Musk and others, imagine a doctor prescribes 'ABC for depression' and a patient is reluctant, or worse, 'adamant' about the drug i.e. 'PeEPLE aRe dYInG!'. It's a common problem now in the medical field. If GSK can be held accountable for false or misleading information about something that 'causes harm' - then maybe so should Musk and others. At the same time, obviously, drugs do cause harm and sometimes without even any malign intent, so it becomes problematic then for regular, legitimate, 'good faith' investigation as well i.e. why should we trust '60 Minutes' investigation more than the FDC, the Drug Maker, or Elong Musk? It's tough. I don't know what the answer is, but it's a very serious issue we need to think about.

jokethrowaway 4y ago
Free speech doesn't exempt you from committing crimes. I'm against all regulations, I personally think we should have 3rd party companies reviewing products and the processes to create products and that anything should be sellable. That said, if the customers have an expectation that products need to have a certain characteristics to be sold because of regulations - if you bypass those regulations you are committing fraud to your customers. It would be equivalent to a company saying "The Health Reviewer Company X said our product is good for treating depression" when no such claim was made. It's pure and simple fraud - and they're free to say it and be sued into oblivion.
nyokodo 4y ago
> why should we trust '60 Minutes' investigation more than the FDC, the Drug Maker, or Elong Musk? It's tough. A major flaw in the culture is the disproportionate attention given to celebrity opinions.
- jollybean 4y ago
  Yes, that's populism. But our journalistic enterprises are also flawed, so is governance. So it's hard.

jokethrowaway 4y ago

Free speech doesn't exempt you from committing crimes. I'm against all regulations, I personally think we should have 3rd party companies reviewing products and the processes to create products and that anything should be sellable. That said, if the customers have an expectation that products need to have a certain characteristics to be sold because of regulations - if you bypass those regulations you are committing fraud to your customers. It would be equivalent to a company saying "The Health Reviewer Company X said our product is good for treating depression" when no such claim was made. It's pure and simple fraud - and they're free to say it and be sued into oblivion.

nyokodo 4y ago

> why should we trust '60 Minutes' investigation more than the FDC, the Drug Maker, or Elong Musk? It's tough. A major flaw in the culture is the disproportionate attention given to celebrity opinions.

jollybean 4y ago
Yes, that's populism. But our journalistic enterprises are also flawed, so is governance. So it's hard.