Bandolero has long had his sights on the Unholy Trinity of Big Pharma, Big Insurance and Big Med. Until they are made transparent, there is no hope for reformation of the health industry into something that is available and affordable to all. Congress struggles over legislation and gives us junk like Obama Care, or promises of other legislation that they tout depending on who is funding their campaign chests. All the while, legislators are either unwilling or too dumb (or, most likely, both) to pierce the veil behind which the Unholy Trinity conspires, in violation of anti-trust laws, to get richer and richer at the expense of the population. A recent article, Big Pharma Has The Flu, in Wired Magazine caught our attention by actually referring to “Big Pharma”. At least Bandolero is not alone in his recognition of the nature of the beast. It spotlights the enormous profits reaped by Big Pharma from sales of flu vaccines that have only limited effectiveness, and the reason why Big Pharma has no incentive to do better. In the end, however, the author seems to mostly blame the inherent nature of capitalism for Big Pharma’s failure to produce an effective vaccine, and to suggest that it will take funding on the level of the Gates Foundation to make an effective vaccine possible. What the author overlooked is that Big Pharma itself could fund the research and development necessary to create an effective vaccine, especially if Big Insurance and Big Med were to throw in some of their money. It ain’t gonna happen. Too many CEO’s, directors and shareholders are not in the game for the purpose of improving or protecting the health and well being of the common man (er, common person). They’re in it for the purpose of improving and protecting their own wealth and lifestyle. It’s not in their financial interest to spend money to create an effective flu vaccine. It is in their financial interest to spend money to buy Congress, the biggest cuckoo’s nest in history. It’s a lot cheaper.