Seasons of Dough

Seasons of Dough
(With apologies to the Cast of Rent)
(Play Midi in background)
Based on a true story.

Five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred dollars
Five hundred twenty-five thousand doses they fear
Five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred dollars
How do they profit,
profit all year?

You bill them, quite nicely, in Euros, and Lira,
In Yen and Pounds Sterling, for drugs in their I. V.
Five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred dollars,
how do you measure the cost of a life?
Give me a break!
Give me a break!
When will it end?
Leave ‘em some dough
Be a good Joe.

Five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred dollars
Five hundred twenty-five thousand bills if you can
Five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred dollars
How can you measure the cost of a woman or man?
In truths that she learned, or in times that she cried
In bridges big pharma*, burned for their pride.

Its time now to sing out, though the story never ends
Profits are one thing, but the costs are too high
Remember the sole
Remember the sole
It’s taking a toll
Leave ‘em some dough
Be a good Joe.

-Wes

* Per-patient Costs of IV Cancer Drugs:
Avastin (Genentech): $46,600
Vectibix (Amgen): $36,000
Erbitux (ImClone & Bristol): $40,000
Lucentis (Genentech): $48,000
Revlimid (Celgene): $67,000
Sutent (Pfizer): $46,500

(Source: WSJ 3/15/07)