77: Billy Kenber and Humphrey Hawksley - The Goldster Conversations Podcast

The Goldster Conversations Podcast

Billy Kenber is an award-winning investigative journalist at The Times who has taken the lid of a section of the health care industry. In his explosive book Sick Money, The Truth About the Global Pharmaceutical Industry, Billy maintains that medicines have become nothing more than financial assets and that how drugs are priced and who has access to them is now dictated by shareholder value. He cites the example of an American hedge fund manager who hiked the price of an HIV AIDS pill from $17.50 to $750 overnight and of a children's cancer drugs left intentionally to expire in a Spanish because it was more cost-effective. Billy explains industry culture such as the reluctance to invest deeply in vaccines because once the disease is conquered profits fall and an eagerness to put research money into chronic conditions like diabetes.
Unless we take action, Billy argues, we risk a dramatic decline in the pace of drug development and a future in which medicines are only available to the highest bidder. But how right is he? Do we not need the drug companies, warts and all, to step up the plate when we have to tackle a pandemic like Covid-19? Billy will also discuss Goldster healthy ageing techniques and how draw that balance between that lifestyle and only turning to medicines when necessary.
To watch the original recording of this episode, please click here.