Pink?

Sept 29, 2013

I've been anti Cancer charities for a while now and I've been debating writing about why for some time. I don't run for a cure, I don't wrestler for one, and I don't wear Pink ribbons, and I'm about to explain why. My eyes were first opened by a buddy who has been up on his soap box bashing Cancer charities since losing his wife to breast Cancer several years ago. What? He lost his wife to Cancer and he is against donating money to help find a cure, this seems odd. Well it does, but it isn't. The problem lies in the fact that Cancer charities aren't really what they seem to be. I am not saying they are fraudulent or that the people who run them, raise money for them, or donate to them are doing so with bad intentions. I'm just saying that if you looked a little closer you might not be so eager to give them your money.

I recently watched a video by a Cancer survivor who is also anti Pink and his explanation of the situation was the simplest, clearest, and most effective explanation of the situation I've ever heard. In the hope of opening a few people's eyes, I'm going to restate in my own words what was covered in this great video.

Like the video I want to look solely at the cancer research being done and what the money that is put towards this end really accomplishes, because bring up all of the other issues often muddies the waters. Let's just look at the facts.

Fact: Cancer research is being done all the time.
Fact: Cancer research is being done by pharmaceutical (Drug) companies.
Fact: Drug companies make Billions of dollars each year.

When you donate to your Pink charity of choice a portion of what you donate is then given to the companies that do Cancer research (Drug Companies) to help cover the costs of doing their research. The result of that research, should it prove fruitful, is then patented so that the resulting treatment or cure can be sold back to the cancer sufferers at a profit. No real additional research is being done; you are just covering the cost of research and development already being done by Drug companies so that they can turn a higher profit. You are covering operational expenses for multi-billion dollar companies that intend to sell you the product you helped to pay for developing, should you even need it, at a profit to them.

Seriously this is the equivalent of people donating money to Apple so Apple doesn't have to spend as much of their own money developing new products, so when they sell you your next iDevice, at FULL price, they can turn an even greater profit.

I know most people donating and even running Cancer charities mean well and have good intentions but doesn't this sound a little bit crazy. Who in their right mind would give money to big corporations that are already turning 100s of millions of dollars in profits? If you know someone with Cancer (and sadly who doesn't) and you want to help out, why not just give them your money so they can better afford to seek out their best treatment options. They certainly could use the financial aid more than companies already making more money than you or your friend will ever see in a life time.

That's my 2 cents; make of it what you will.
Lance


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