Coral Snakes- Pfizer Corp is a JERK

[viper69]

Well, Pfizer, the only maker of coral snake anti-venin pulled the plug on producing it because sales were low. Whatever we have now is good for only a year.

SO, after that if you bit by a coral snake, you might die, thanks to the commercial greed of Pfizer, because after all their billions on Viagra, they can't possibly afford to make coral snake anti-venin.

I hope the people who made this GENIUS decision get bit by coral snakes and die a painful death.

 

[lostbrane]

Pfizer? A jerk? Say it ain't so!

And also you'd think with all the Viagara they'd be able to keep it up. Alright terrible joke, I'll see myself out.

I didn't realize though that the FDA has been extending the expiration dates on the current lots.

 

[NYAN]

They also stopped producing recluse and bark scorpion antivenom in the United States since it hadn’t been needed. Coral snake bites aren’t common at all if I recall correctly? This doesn’t mean they should stop it altogether though. I agree they are greedy.

 

[viper69]

They also stopped producing recluse and bark scorpion antivenom in the United States since it hadn’t been needed. Coral snake bites aren’t common at all if I recall correctly? This doesn’t mean they should stop it altogether though. I agree they are greedy.

The state of Florida alone gets approximately 45 coral snake bites per YEAR.

 

[NYAN]

The state of Florida alone gets approximately 45 coral snake bites per YEAR.

That’s interesting! Do other companies make it as well? I know some antivenoms are made by a few different companies.

 

[schmiggle]

It's a for profit company. What did you expect?

Where did you see the story, by the way? The Venom Interviews says that Pfizer put its antivenin back in production in late 2016, but they might have reversed that decision again.

IMO antivenin production should be subsidized in proportion to demand. People do get bitten by coral snakes, even if it's not especially frequent.

There's a range of coral snake antivenins produced in Costa Rica (I'm sure coral snake bites are far more common in the tropical Americas), so I'm not sure why the FDA doesn't rush to get those approved. A bit of competition would probably be good for Pfizer.

 

[Greasylake]

I got talking to my biology professor about venoms anti-venoms, and she mentioned that there's a company in Mexico currently developing quite a few different anti-venoms. She said the only one she knew for sure was one for Latrodectus species but if you look into them a little more it may be possible that they're making one for coral snakes as well.