Big Pharma: A Monopoly in Need of a Cure

 In last week's article we discussed some of the monopolies which dominate the American economy, and by extension, Congress, the Judiciary, and the Presidency.  While powerful, especially the financial sector, perhaps none are currently more powerful than Big Pharma. Just how big and powerful?

While we get to that in just a moment, but consider this. 70% of all Americans are dependant in some way, be it medicine or medical equipment, on what Big Pharma says we need. For the majority of that 70%, what they receive is critical to their overall health and even their very survival.

So, just who is "Big Pharma" anyway? Names such as Bayer, Pfizer, Moderna, or Johnson and Johnson are household names we're familiar with, particularly thanks to the Covid pandemic. However, many others are simply unknown except through their products which are extensively marketed.

 Starting in reverse order with the tenth largest and most influential global pharmaceutical company (all revenue is from 2020) is Sonfi, the French manufacturer of Zantac, Plavix, and Ambien, reported just over $41 billion dollars in revenue. Next is Pfizer, whose revenue was about $42 billion. Bristol Myers Squibb racked up $42.5 billion dollars. GlaxoSmithKline was seventh with $43.5 billion dollars.

In sixth place was Janssen, which is part of Johnson and Johnson. Their revenue in 2020 was $45.5 billion dollars. AbbVie, the maker of Humira, made $45.8 billion dollars. Merck earned a under $48 billion. Novartis, a Swiss producer of drugs such as Ritalin, earned its shareholders $48.6 billion dollars. Second place belongs to Roche Pharmaceuticals (a division of the Roche Group), manufacturer of Valium, and also a Swiss company. It's revenue for 2020 was a staggering $49.5 billion dollars.

Finally, the top earner in 2020 was a state owned Chinese company named Sinopharm, whose revenue was $50.4 billion dollars. Sinopharm is headquartered in Beijing China. It's official name is the China National Pharmaceutical Group Corporation, a holding company for China National Pharmaceutical Corporation, China National Pharmaceutical Industry Corporation, the China National Pharmaceutical  Foreign Trade Corporation, and the China National Medical Device Corporation.

 In 2009, Sinopharm merged with China National Biotec Group. You may be more familiar with their subsidiary---the Wuhan Institute of Biological Products. Sinopharm is known for R&D and the production vaccines, included the widely distributed BIBP vaccine which is being used in the treatment of Covid-19. Other leading companies which didn't make it into the top ten included AstraZeneca (12th), Eli Lilly (14th), Bayer (16th), or Novo Nordisk (17th).

As an aside, Moderna is a pharmaceutical and biotechnology company focusing on RNA therapeutics and vaccines dealing with the immune system. It's only commercial product to date is the Moderna Covid 19 vaccine.

In the U.S., the deepest pockets belong to six companies, Eli Lilly with a market value of $98 billion, GlaxoSmithKline with $103 billion, Merck has a market value of $164 billion, Pfizer $212 billion dollars, Novartis at $273 billion, and Johnson and Johnson with a market value of $274 billion. 

It's worth noting the Big Pharma doesn't spend the majority of its substantial profits on developing on medication or devices. In fact, marketing receives 19 times more funding than development, all to provide you, the customer, with that nice warm and fuzzy feeling you get watching one of those homey  "one of us" commercials on TV, radio, in print, or social media because they care.

Going further, the top 14 U.S. pharmaceutical companies spent a combine $31 million dollars just on lobbying Congress in the first quarter of 2021. Pfizer alone spent $3.7 million.  The trade association, Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturing spent 8.6 million on Congress for that same quarter.

That doesn't include the millions they spend on wooing doctors, pharmacists, dentists, optometrists, hospitals, nursing homes or rehab centers, nor does it include money spent on medical associations, professional medical unions, colleges, seminars, or trade shows hawking their latest wonder drug or medical devise. After all, where did you think all those "samples" or other medical items (include anatomical displays and posters) you see at the doctor's office come from? 

Lastly, they spend millions yearly cultivating what they call "thought leaders" in the medical and pharmaceutical field. Thought leaders are individuals who widely respected locally, regionally and nationally that are used to promote various drugs or devises to other professionals in the medical industry. This is often the reason physicians recommend one pill or product over another. These "thought leaders" are usually very well compensated for their endorsement with trips to fancy getaways for "seminars" (all expenses paid), honorariums, and other very nice perks.

In 2020, 2/3 of Congress cashed a check from Big Pharma. The majority of money, 7.1 million, went to Republicans while Democrats received 6.6 million, but that's still just part of the story. Big Pharma spent $263 million dollars in 2021 lobbying Congress. Every member of Congress had a minimum of three lobbyists from Big Pharma knocking on their door. What were they trying to buy?

Big Pharma abhors the idea of the Federal Government passing legislation capping prescription prices (and who can blame them with a captive market of 70%?). They equally hate the notion of allowing individuals to shop around for their prescriptions in places like Canada or Mexico (where they often cite a lack of quality or oversight) and elsewhere.

The truth of the matter is that the quality of these drugs, if bought from reputable companies, are the same or better than here in the U.S.. The main difference is that the price of drugs are four times more expensive in the U.S. as they are elsewhere, and that's just the way Big Pharma likes it.

Lobbyists for Big Pharma don't always focus on every legislator. Often, they'll concentrate on key committee members who have the clout to either push through a piece of legislation (which they wrote), or just as importantly, has the ability to keep other pieces of legislation they oppose tied up in committee. This is thanks to Congress's rigid hierarchy, but also to the extensive and always up-to-date research they compile of not just every legislator, but also their key staffers.  They often know beforehand who they can count on and who they can't.

The top influence buyers are Starkey Hearing Technologies, which gave around $564,000 to members of Congress; the majority of which went to Republicans. However, Masimo Corporation (maker of medical devises) gave all of its $533,714 to Democrats. Pfizer split its $487,000 equally between the two parties. RAAS Nutritionals gave all its $400,000 to Democrats.

Other donors included Abbotts Labs which donated slightly more of its $284,000 to the GOP. Johnson and Johnson did just the opposite with its $275,000. Eli Lilly gave most of its $214,000 to Democrats too, as did the remaining top 20 donors.

The top Big Pharma lobbyist for 2021 was the trade association, Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers, Inc which gave $22,903.000 (mainly to Democrats), dwarfing the other four leading lobbying organizations, whose donations hovered between $7 and 9 million each.

Big Pharma has fought to keep the conversion of name brand drugs (like Bystolic, which is used for controlling difficult to maintain blood pressure) from becoming generic because that would substantially lower prices and effectively remove that drug from their inventory, which affects their bottom line.

Therefore, pharmaceutical companies make minor changes in their drug patients (in what's called "evergreening") to extend their control over various drugs and keep prices artificially high. "Evergreening" is something some member of Congress would like to see, but not so Big Pharma.

Speaking of generics, it's worth noting the very little new drugs are actually developed in-house by some of the major drug makers. Using a 2017 annual report, STAT, which analyses the biomedical, pharmaceutical, and medical industry, looked at 62 new products belonging to Pfizer and Johnson and Johnson (44 for Pfizer and 18 for J&J).  Out of the 44 new products, only 10 were developed by Pfizer and two of Johnson and Johnson's 18. 

In looking at the drug market in general, 81% of all new developments came from outside sources. Typically one of the big pharmaceutical companies will acquire the rights to the new drug and sit on it without ever developing it for the market or, alternatively, will "lease" out the patent for research purposes.

At this point you are probably wondering who is suppose to keep Big Pharma in check. Well, the answer is (at least theoretically) the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). But all is not as it seems. The role of the FDA is to monitor the pharmaceutical and medical industry while verifying its claims, help regulate prices, and approving any new drugs brought to the public market. Additionally, the FDA is partially funded by this same industry through user and other fees.

However, with decades of cutbacks in funding, the FDA has now come to rely on those it regulates for its operational budget. Big Pharma provides 75% of the FDA's funding of its drug review budget. In effect, since the drug and other companies control the purse strings, the FDA has become all but impotent.

Should the FDA attempt to push back or exert to much control, all the drug companies has to do is reduce, delay, or stop introducing anything which generates a fee in order to have an impact.  As a result, in December of 2021, the House Committee on Oversight and Reform released a very revealing report about the clout of Big Pharma and its influence over the FDA.

For instance, the prices of the top leading 12 drugs used by Medicare recipients increased 250% simply by using various market strategies to avoid conversions to generics to minimize competition as well as "hiding" real profits and extending their monopoly over these drugs by decades. Furthermore, these same 12 drugs are now priced at over 500 times what they were when they were first introduced to the market.   

The same report also discovered that the top 14 drug companies spent $577 billion dollars on stock buybacks and dividends over the last previous five years, which was $56 billion more than was spent on research and development. These same 14 companies also received millions in taxpayer based grants and subsidies designed for the development of new drugs, not to mention huge tax breaks.  

So, what does this mean for you and me? It means simply that the medical industry, like any other industry, is largely confined to a few very wealthy and influential corporations whose first loyalty is its officers and shareholders. It also means that the care of the patient is often secondary to the profit made from some pill or device. A cured patient is a lost customer. Lower prices are lost profits.

Big Pharma will continue to peddle its influence in the halls of Washington, and closer to home in state legislatures while it has a pill for every ill to sell to us, real or imagined. Professional medical associations are often motivated by the bottom line to move patients through like an assembly line.

The more patients seen the greater the billable hours and drugs or whatever else sold. Meanwhile insurance companies second guess doctors in order to minimize costs, overriding recommendations even to the point of harm to the patient.

Western medicine, unlike in the East, is focused mainly on the treatment of symptoms and outcomes, whereas in Eastern medicine the focus is on prevention first. Medical professionals in the West tend to ignore natural or homeopathic cures, which may take a little longer, has fewer (if any) side effects, preferring what some call "controlled poisons" whose potential side effects can be worse than the illness.  Sadly, we can say the same about Big Pharma, whose profit over patient side effects are killing America.  The ancients saw healing as a gift from the gods. Today it's big business and profit.

If you want to know more, please take a look at the links below. If you enjoyed the article, please consider passing along to others and don't forget to subscribe. It's free! Lastly please be sure to "like" us on Facebook or whatever platform you use to read A/O. It helps with the algorithms and keeps our articles in circulation.

 

Pharma 50: The 50 largest pharmaceutical companies in theworld

STAT: Do large pharma companies provide drug developmentinnovation? Our analysis says no

Pharma campaign Cash Delivered with Surgical Precision

The Biopharmaceutical Industry Provides 75% Of The FDA's Drug Review Budget

OpenSecrets: Pharmaceutical and Medical Products

What Have We Learned Since the COVID 19 Outbreak?

Viruses and diseases have been with us since time immemorial. Wherever we've gone, it's been right there with us, in our food or water, on our clothing, our pack animals, or in our boats. Now it comes with us by plane. Some want to curtail or even stop our trade with China; claiming that we're to dependant on the Chinese. Perhaps that's true.

It would certainly be to our advantage to return many of our manufacturing jobs back to America but China isn't the only place where our jobs went (Mexico, India, and South Korea come to mind). However, that won't stop the development and spread of viruses or other diseases. Besides, as economically integrated as the world is, it would be impossible to separate from other countries without severely impacting every economy, including ours.

Some claim that the COVID-19 virus is a biological weapon sent here by the Chinese. After all, they claim, China may be a trading partner; even a important trading partner which just so happens to own much of our national debt, it is also a major economic and political competitor. China has long been on a quiet spending spree to buy up key natural resources to fuel its own phenomenal economic development, albeit at the price of destroying or polluting its own environment. And while it has embraced a certain amount of capitalism, it remains a politically close society; a Communist country whose swore goal is the overthrow of Western democracy and the suppression of freedom in whatever form that takes, including religion---any religion---for the sake of political conformity.

It's true that the virus originated in the Wuhan Province of China, which just so happens to be where a military bio-lab is located (we were told as you'll recall that it originated there as a result of someone eating contaminated "bat soup" as you'll recall). Perhaps it was a strain which accidently escaped from a lab, but then again, perhaps not. Now the Chinese government is trying to blame it on the CIA; an infected tourist who may or may not have knowingly carried the virus. The fact of the matter is that we'll never know for sure.

Another fact is that China has been just as heavily impacted as everyone else (if not more so) whatever the origin of the virus. In tracking the origin of diseases and viruses, it's often near impossible to determine the actually starting point since the first symptoms may not occur for weeks or months after the original exposure, and by then the original person infected ("patient zero") could be hundreds or thousands of miles away, infecting who knows how many others. So, practically speaking, what do we know? What have we learned since this outbreak?

We learned what are considered "essential" jobs and who are "essential" employees, and to the surprise of many, it not upper management. It isn't, for the most part, jobs which required four year degrees. In fact, the majority of these "essential" job didn't require any higher learning at all. I'm talking about garbage men (and women) who pick up our trash every week. I'm talking about the farmers and farmhands who grow our food or those who insure we have clean water.

I'm talking about those who work in fast food restaurants cooking the food and working the drive through windows as well as those who bring food to our door. I'm also talking about those who stock the shelves not just at night, but are currently doing it all through the day just so we'll have something for our families. We can't forget the cashiers either, nor those who make sure we have electricity to cook our food, watch TV, surf the internet, or charge our smartphones so we can play video games all day.

I'm also talking about the all important trucker who is busting their hump to make sure that the stores receive what we need. Without truckers, most of America doesn't eat. It doesn't get the cleaning supplies, clothes, sheets, medicine, or whatever else we need to survive. It includes those working in warehouses, and stockrooms, as well as those working on some production line turning our sanitizers or masks.

We still depend on the police, the firefighters, EMS, and hospital workers---from the doctors, nurses, and lab workers to those doing the laundry and housekeeping who provide clean sheets and sanitary rooms and those working in the kitchen and making sure everyone eats, and on those who are filling our prescriptions.

We're finding that with schools being closed, the most essential individual in any child's education is still the parent. Yes, teachers are important, but without the parent's contribution, it's often a wasted effort. Perhaps home schooling will play an even more important role in the future. We're also rediscovering that with churches being closed, that faith doesn't reside in a building but within each of us.

We are learning all over again about just how dependant we are on each other. We are reminded that we are social animals; that politics, religion, or other self imposed barriers matter little in the long run, and this virus is a harsh reminder that we, as a species, are in this for the long run. We've learned that it's the ordinary worker, the ones we give little thought to, who are keeping us going.

Thanks to this virus, we've also seen Humanity at its selfish and greedy worse. We've seen people hoarding paper towels, toilet paper, sanitizers, and cleaning products, not to mention OTC medicines. It would be one thing if they were buying it to help others, but they're not. They are buying it for the sole intent of taking advantage of the disadvantaged such as seniors, the handicapped, and those unable to get out to shop.

They are in affect stealing from others by creating an artificial shortages, which in turn causes everyone up the supply chain to work longer and harder to replenish stock, which ultimately drives up prices for everyone. Of course, they will be more than happy to sell their hoarded products for a handsome profit to the very people who can afford it the least. I find no sense of honor, let alone compassion in this. The noblest thing we can do is to help those who are unable to help themselves, especially in time of crisis, even if that means not buying more than we think we need.

We've also learned something negative about our "social" nature. Despite repeatedly being warned to stay indoors as much as possible and the emphasis on social distancing, we are witnessing individuals doing just the opposite. Just recently we had thousands of high school and college students head to the beaches for an extended Spring Break. Many of them openly dismissing the warnings; claiming that "this is our time".

Well, perhaps it is "their time". Now that communities have closed all the usual Spring Break hot spots, a number of these self-centered "young adults" have become infected. Better yet, they're now demanding to be treated first. Frankly, too bad. Youth may be known for its zeal, but not necessarily for its intelligence (which typically improves with experience).

But it's not limited to youthful ignorance. It cuts across all age groups just as it does all races, religions, and (most) income brackets. We've seen people enmasse show up to watch the docking of the USS Comfort Hospital ship, going to the park, and at other events with large crowds. If we're to slow this spread of this virus down, we're going to have think about how we interact with others for their protection as well as ours.

We've also seen as unessential Washington can be. We've seen how partisan politics continues to influence something as basic as putting together a relief package for the nation. Be it sneaking in money for illegal immigrants, funding the Kennedy Center, or providing more corporate welfare, and neither party is more guilty than the other.

This should send a clear and unmistakable message to the American People that Washington doesn't represent our best interests (as if we actually need yet another reminder right?). It serves the needs of the very wealthy; the special interest groups who make up the ruling Oligarchy and finance modern politics.

The only reason we got anything out of this so-called "relief package" was the knowledge that the American People might... just might...actually stand up and doing something about a relief package for the elites only (I'm thinking of a repeat of Obama's 2008 Wall Street bailout), and yet special interest groups still made out like bandits. Now, another relief package is being considered and Congress is again looking at ways to reward its special interest benefactors with our money.

We've also seen some of our greatest fears as Americans starting to take shape. For years there has been those who've warned about the slow development of a surveillance state; the forerunner of a police state. We've witnessed the development of technology, which many have welcomed with open arms while not considering its other, possible nefarious, uses. We've assumed that "our" politicians, regardless of their party, were immune to the clarion call of dictatorship which has crumbled countless other nations throughout time. After all, we have a constitution to protect us.

However, recent events, mostly at the local or state level, have shown that politicians, regardless of party, are just as drawn to the allure of absolute power as any other tyrant down through history, and no would be dictator would ever dream of wasting a perfectly good crisis! We know we're already an Oligarchy. The government is not run for our benefit. It serves the needs and wants of a very small group of wealthy individuals and corporations. For them, it's always been about control, be it assets, resources, or the populace.

Whether or not we take the next and perhaps final step into a full fledge police state, there can be no doubt that there's no going back to what we were pre-virus. The government, and those who control the government, have been taking careful note about how we've reacted to this crisis; who obeyed and who were the ones who spoke out. They've seen how we've responded. What were the strengths and weaknesses to our social system, especially our supply chain. How much did we depend on social media as opposed to corporate mainstream media or just how prepared the average American is for a crisis.

They already know that most Americans---80%---live from paycheck to paycheck. They've seen that there was no outcry or even whimper when the primary elections were temporarily suspended (there was more of an outcry when the baseball and basketball seasons were postponed). They have taken note of our restrained reactions to seeing National Guard troops out, to curfews and to restricted travel.

As Lewis Carroll's "Alice" in Alice in Wonderland said, "It's no use going back to yesterday, because I was a different person then". We are all different than we were before this crisis. The question is what we, "the People" will learn from this crisis, be it the tendency of politicians, businesses, ourselves, and each other.

Having the Stones to Take on Goliath

As readers of Another Opinion know, I've been engaged in a battle Kynect (Kentucky's "model" insurance exchange) and with Humana, to which I've been assigned. Just to briefly recap, my wife and I applied for insurance through the Kentucky insurance exchange known as "Kynect" (we have the distinction of being the second applicants to register when it went operational in August 2013). Somehow we managed to find every computer glitch and SNAFU in the system despite repeated assurances to the world by Governor Beshear that program was working without any hitches. By early October, our status had been elevated to the highest tier and I found myself dealing with programmers, systems analysts, and systems designers as they attempted to create "work arounds" in their programming and a host of other corrections.

Finally, by February 2014, things had settled down. Since we were enrolled in the system at the end of 2013, we were permitted to pick our start date for coverage to begin. We could chose from January, February or March. Since January had past and we had no medical bills worth any note, and as February was about over, we opted from March. However, "someone" at Kynect decided, when entering the information, that we really meant to say April instead of March, and changed our start date so we ended up absorbing medical bills for March (in all fairness, the senior manager at Kynect with whom we had been working gave us the option of correcting it back to March, however, the time required would have put us well into April anyway, so we opted just to "eat" the costs). Nevertheless, we ended up with some pretty good insurance, but no good deed goes unpunished, especially when dealing with the government.

At the end of 2014, we started getting notices from Kynect saying our coverage was changing (and apparently without our consent). I called our insurance provider several times over the next 45 or so days and was "assured" that our coverage was not changing and we should ignore the notices received from Kynect; we would keep our existing coverage we were repeatedly told. Finally, in early February 2015, I phoned Kynect to see what was going on. Well, it seems that their income calculation formula had changed and we were being removed from our insurance provider and transferred to Humana. Despite my protestations, we were moved in mid-February. At the same time, we received notices from our (now) former provider that our premiums were about to expire (Kynect paid a portion and we paid the balance). Although I repeatedly explained what had happened and offered to fax or email our notices from Kynect, I was advised that my offer (and my explanation) were appreciated but not acceptable. They needed "official" notice direct for Kynect. "Okey dokey" I said, and promptly contacted Kynect to (again) express my frustration and relay their request. I was told that an official notice will be sent, however, an "advisement" had already been issued.

Meanwhile, I discovered that despite Kynect's repeated promises (parroting Obama's) that I could keep my doctors, that in the event I

couldn't, my new carrier would pay for any prescriptions and tests. I, however, would be responsible for paying the office visit. Needless to say, I was dismayed when my primary doctor of 32 years (and who is the area's only known sub-specialist) wouldn't see me when I showed up for my scheduled appointment. I was told that I couldn't even pay cash money for the visit, and to jab the knife a little deeper, my doctor could not write me any more prescriptions while I searched for his replacement. Once my refills ran out, I was, to use the proper medical terminology, screwed. As soon as I got home, I immediately phoned Kynect. Again, they offered their heartfelt and most sincere apologies, but there was nothing that could do about changing the insurer. It was suggested to connect my new provider, Humana, to see if they could locate a doctor for me. "Fat chance" I thought as I said "thank you" as politely as I could muster and hung up the phone.

So I contacted Humana's Customer Service Department. After going through a battery of options to select from (which included what language I wanted---I will never ever press a button for English as long as I live in this country), and a ten minute wait, I finally spoke with a living breathing person. After explaining my situation (while listening to timely interjections of "we're sorry for your inconvenience), I was given a list of six doctors for me to call. I quickly learned that none of these were specialist of the type I needed, but it didn't matter. None were accepting Humana. So, for the next two months, I made my daily calls with the latest of doctors Human had given me, but I jump ahead of myself.

Somewhere along the third week, I managed to get lucky. One of the customer representatives I spoke with (and whose first language was apparently English), blurted out near the end of one of my frustrated phone calls that I could submit a "Continuing Patient Care Request" and then almost as an afterthought, asked if I would like to do so. "Hell yeah" I said. So together---her writing out the synopsis while I provided my medical history, prescriptions, and reason for my request. When we ended, she said it would take approximately 7 to 10 days to get a decision (really? That was like a sleepover by this time). So while I waited, I continued to make my calls and get my daily rejections only to call Humana and get my next list of six doctors with the names sounding less and less familiar by the day from the ever changing representatives (after, of course, having to repeat my story). Some of the rejections were due to the physician winding down their practice; moved out of state; or were simply located in the wrong part of the state; wrong specialty; or simply was not accepting Humana any longer.

Finally, the tenth day came and I was on the phone for what I hoped would be my approval. However, as if to throw salt on the previously mentioned proverbial knife wound, I was told that no decision had been reached yet, so in addition to calling for my list of six, I now had to ask for status updates (as an aside, I was also providing them with updates on the doctors whose names they had given me. Evidently their list hadn't been updated in quiet awhile). Then it came.

I had been reading when the phone rang. I started to ignore the call, figuring it was another solicitor calling, despite my being on the "No Call" list, when I noticed it was my (now) former primary doctor's office calling. So I answered, expecting to hear some other piece of bad news. I don't know if I can correctly express my emotion or thoughts as I was informed that they had just concluded a series of conference calls with my current provider and given my medical needs and length of time I've been with their office, my request was approved. She was calling as quickly as possible to let me know and schedule an appointment as soon as I wanted. I remember being instantly relieved; excited; angry at having been put through the hoops; the corporate and government bureaucracy, that I must of had her repeat herself two or three times (I don't she minded. She knew me from all these years and how much I had fought this).

So, we scheduled an appointment and she explain that my efforts also resulted in a change in policy, both for their offices as well

as for Humana's that would allow longstanding patients to remain with their primary care physician provided the physician was willing to keep the patient on. I didn't feel the need to gloat but I was quietly pleased to know that my efforts may also be helpful to others in a similar position as mine. Most people would have given up I realize, but I not one of those people. I don't believe in giving up the fight if the cause is just, be it for me or for someone else. I've been a community and political activist for well over 35 years. I've also helped countless numbers of individuals take on their own "Goliath" over the decades (while "Goliath" is a good, if not common, analogy, I'm reminded more of Odysseus and the Cyclops, Polyhemus, and in particular Odysseus's response as he sailed away; having outwitted this son of Poseidon). I did it from elementary school on; while in the military; in college; and in every job I ever had. It's simply my nature I guess.

As an comical aside, remember those notices I had been receiving from my the original insurance provider mentioned above? Well, I continue to receive them, advising me that my premium remain due while I continue to advise them that I was removed by Kynect at the end of January. Meanwhile, I've checked with Kynect and have been assured that they have been repeatedly notified of my removal from their policy (I was even provided a reference number which I had sent on). Despite their disinterest in my notices from Kynect, I faxed of copies to them all the same. Just a few days ago, I received a new set of membership cards. You just have to love corporate bureaucracy.


Greek Myths & Greek Mythology
http://www.greekmyths-greekmythology.com/odysseus-and-cyclops-myth/