Like a Dog Rolling in Its Own Filth

Megan can't stop.

Commenter Foo Bar sez:

...
Megan seems to be saying that since the pharma industry people are interested parties, they probably know the facts at a detailed level and are good sources of information on the topic. Yet pharma industry folks are not "interested parties" in the same way that astronomers are interested in understanding the workings of far-away galaxies. They are interested in maximizing the profitability of their industry. So they have a motive to stretch the truth a bit. That doesn't mean that all of them or even many of them do stretch the truth, but it's something to bear in mind.

So "just talk to people in the pharma industry; they know the situation as well as anyone" is a bit simplistic. I agree that anyone who wants to be an authority on this topic should talk to industry people, but what they say should be considered with some skepticism.

To which Megan replies:

Of course it should, and you can say that I am insufficiently skeptical; it's entirely possible. But there are a lot of really, really elementary mistakes about the way businesses are run--see Jerry Avorn claiming that we don't need Big Pharma because biotechs are getting all this VC funding, among other howlers--that indicate that people aren't talking to industry at all. I mean, yes, be skeptical that the United States really dominates their profits when they say it--but in fact, everything else that the left believes is consistent with, indeed reinforces, this belief. If you think that we spend much more on drugs than everyone else, take more pills, and pay higher prices because we don't control prices or distribution the way other countries do . . . well, you, me, and Big Pharma all agree. Your interpretation of the facts may vary, and of course, once it gets to predicting the future, we're all on shaky ground. But the facts actually aren't really in dispute. America is just immensely profitable for pharma, far more than other areas. It's odd to see progressives challenging this, when the rest of the time, it's one of their chief complaints.

See, now it's weird that we're pointing out Megan is wrong, because we actually agree with her, we just don't know it. That we, by which she means imaginary libs who don't also live in a capitalist society, don't talk to businesses makes it ok for her to unquestioningly repeat whatever they tell her.
She allows she's too credulous with industry flacks, but doesn't see any need to change, except in the behaviors of liberals.

She'd learn from her mistakes if she ever made any.