‘Big Pharma’: A Poem by Warren Bonham

Big Pharma

Big Pharma companies pay fees
that get spent on the salaries
of scientists who regulate
each new drug, so the long-term fate
of every drug executive
depends on an affirmative
from people at the FDA,
the very people that they pay.

Big Pharma touts the benefit
of each new compound, and if it
becomes a new blockbuster, then
their bought-and-paid-for congressmen
come on their knees, and each one gains
more cash to finance their campaigns,
while they hold hearings that suggest
there’s some new drug we should ingest.

Big Pharma then spends so much more
on advertising to secure
the never-ending loyalty
of those who lecture on TV
about our need to “take the jab,”
who sound sincere, but while they gab,
the massive paycheck each collects,
means they can’t mention side effects.

Big Pharma angrily denies
they’re guilty for autism’s rise,
which everybody hopes is true
but, with examples like Purdue,
or Pfizer, Merck or J&J,
which all got fined and had to pay
huge fines, yet they will not allow
us any probing questions now.

Small Pharma once did things quite well,
but bloated they exist to sell
us potions, lotions, shots, and pills
that help, but then cause other ills
for which they have more pills to sell
that never seem to make us well.
But woe to anyone who dares
to doubt Big Pharma millionaires.

Warren Bonham is a private equity investor who lives in Southlake, Texas.