I was acting crazy in North America, and all the crazy people there took it seriously.

Chapter 230 Aren't you guys forcing me to become a medicine god?
Just as Logan had predicted, the resistance from the USDA Chemicals Bureau appeared weak and powerless in the face of the president's ambiguous acquiescence based on the concept of "small government" and the combined force of the "Prison BA" alliance and the "Winning Scholar" public opinion.

The outcry from Director Campbell and his progressive colleagues, while resonating among certain groups, was almost no match for the power of capital, and even became a tragic background noise that "hindered progress."

However, this does not mean that the "Prison BA" alliance can achieve its goals.

On the contrary, the fiercest resistance only emerges when the real core interests are touched.

It did not originate from self-suppressed official institutions, but rather from within the pharmaceutical industry.

While established pharmaceutical companies that have begun to focus on branding and long-term development may welcome regulatory compliance to some extent, as a chaotic market and the phenomenon of bad money driving out good also harm their interests.

A clear, stable, and even strict regulatory framework can help weed out unruly disruptors, raise the bar for the industry, and allow them to gain a more stable market position by leveraging their technological, capital, and scale advantages.

However, in the United States today, the real majority of the market share is held by those mixed-up, unorthodox pharmaceutical companies.

Most of them rely on one or two "patented drugs" with unclear ingredients and exaggerated advertising to reap huge profits, and they love the current chaotic state of near-unregulated practices.

Any form of regulation, even the private regulation proposed by the "Prison BA," is a Damocles' sword hanging over their heads, and it's the last thing they want to see!
Only a minority of pharmaceutical companies can cooperate with the "Prison BA" alliance, and they generally need a certain level of technological expertise. Otherwise, the two pharmaceutical companies that were disgraced in the "explosive excrement feast" serve as the most obvious lesson.

Therefore, no matter how good the "Prison BA" show is, it has nothing to do with most "unorthodox" pharmaceutical companies.

You're cutting off my source of income when you offer me no benefit. Who else should I turn against if not you?
Seeing that the proposal from the Centers for Drug Regulation (CDR) was gaining momentum with the president's approval and the support of the "Prison BA," they launched a powerful lobbying campaign and media relations, represented by industry organizations such as the Patent Drug Association (PDA), to launch a fierce attack on the proposal.

If the "Prison BA" alliance took the upper-level route in seeking government support, then these "unorthodox" pharmaceutical companies took the rogue route.

The Patent Drug Association mobilized every link in the supply chain—from pharmaceutical factory workers to the owners and employees of thousands of community pharmacies that rely on selling these "patent drugs" for a living—to write to members of Congress.

This resulted in thousands of threatening letters flooding into the offices of every member of Congress.

These piles of letters from the public were almost identical, saying, "The Centers for Drug Control will cause tens of thousands of men and women to lose their jobs, close hundreds of manufacturing plants and thousands of stores... This will do no good for anyone..."

This thuggish approach is simple and brutal, yet extremely effective. Many lawmakers have been forced to take seriously the overwhelming calls from the "grassroots" and have indicated they will carefully consider the president's proposal.

At the same time, the "unorthodox" pharmaceutical companies also launched a fierce attack on public opinion.

They are not just progressives who only talk the talk; they are all capitalists. The "Prison BA" alliance can manipulate public opinion, and pharmaceutical companies can certainly do the same.

If the "Prison BA" alliance relied on its "winning halo" to manipulate public opinion, then the "unorthodox" pharmaceutical companies relied on their "violent halo."

They invested heavily, repeatedly emphasizing only one point in the media: "A league that plays prison basketball probably doesn't even know all the molecular formulas, so what right do they have to point fingers at us professionals?"

They spoke with even more confidence than the Ministry of Agriculture's Chemical Bureau, after all, everyone is private capital, so what right do you have to regulate us across industries? What can you do if we disagree?

Well, they were quite shrewd.

Perhaps in an attempt to win the support of those traditional progressives who were labeled as "backward," they deliberately left an opening in their attack—stating that they were not against all regulation, but rather against being regulated by the "Prison BA" alliance, which they considered "outsiders."

"Unless the 'Prison BA' alliance can develop a new, safe, and effective drug that we can truly accept, our industry will not comply with its regulations!"

Now, even more media outlets are actively getting involved and stirring things up.

The arrogant attitude of The Sun Group and the "Prison BA" alliance, which claims to "always win," has long made many of their peers unhappy.

Seeing them suffer setbacks now, I'm naturally happy to kick them while they're down.

As a result, a large number of newspapers began to report on the strong opposition from the pharmaceutical industry in an "objective" and "neutral" tone, and expressed their support for The Sun Group and the "Prison BA" alliance to continue to create miracles!

So, brave warriors, accept the challenge from your opponents!

As for public opinion... one can only say that public opinion is always fluctuating.

The pharmaceutical industry is not entirely opposed to the regulation of the "Prison BA" alliance, but the repeated questioning from opponents has created the impression that the entire industry opposes it.

Furthermore, the overwhelming incitement from "neutral" media outlets, who seem to thrive on drama, has once again shaken the resolve of the public who were initially swayed by the "halo of victory" and national pride in supporting "Prison BA."

That seems... to make some sense. Letting a basketball player manage pharmaceuticals doesn't sound very reliable.

Why don't you "Prison BAs" accept the challenge and give it a try?
We all want to see the excitement, no, we want to see you let your abilities speak for themselves!

……

"High! It's really high!"

In the Wall Street district of Manhattan, in the chairman's office of Pfizer, President Emil Pfizer gave Chairman John Anderson a thumbs-up.

Pfizer initially focused on manufacturing chemical products. During the American Civil War, it rapidly grew into one of the largest chemical manufacturers in the United States by supplying the Union Army with large quantities of tartaric acid, iodine, morphine, and chloroform.

During World War I, citric acid was its main source of profit. At that time, citric acid could only be extracted from limes, and not only was the production low, but the import of limes was also severely restricted.

John Anderson, Pfizer's new CEO, approved the adoption of a new process to produce citric acid from sugar on a large scale, making Pfizer one of the leading companies in the American chemical industry.

In the postwar period, with the federal government's leniency, a wave of mergers emerged in American industry.

Compared to the already thriving heavy industry, pharmaceutical companies are still quite small in scale, and many manufacturers lack the organizational capabilities of large enterprises.

John Anderson hoped to use this merger of smaller companies to gather greater scale and capabilities to cope with the complexities of government regulations and science.

Anderson paid close attention to the “Prison BA” alliance when it introduced pharmaceutical sponsors. Although Pfizer was unable to directly participate in the first sponsorship due to geographical and product line reasons, he has always regarded it as a window to observe industry trends and potential M&A targets.

Unexpectedly, before the outstanding pharmaceutical sponsors were even announced, the pharmaceutical sponsors that went bankrupt took the lead.

What was even more unexpected was that the series of chain reactions that followed, especially the proposal to "reform drug regulation," immediately triggered Anderson's "killer instincts."

Pfizer naturally welcomed the establishment of a clear set of regulatory standards, so he... secretly used his influence to encourage the "unorthodox" pharmaceutical companies in the Patent Drug Association to oppose the "Prison BA" alliance's proposal even more fiercely!

At the same time, he also encouraged neutral media outlets to stir up trouble through various channels—even though it seems that these media outlets would not miss the opportunity to watch the rising Sun Group make a fuss, even if he did not encourage them.

And then we arrived at the current situation.

"If the 'Prison BA' alliance backs down in the face of strong opposition, then Pfizer can take over what they started and join forces with other legitimate pharmaceutical companies to establish a private regulatory center; if the 'Prison BA' alliance accepts the challenge, Pfizer is willing to join as a partner and naturally share the leadership of the regulatory center!"

John Anderson's eyes gleamed with an air of "everything is under control".

What new drugs is Pfizer developing now?
That's not important. What's important is that Pfizer has industry influence and can silence dissent—or, if all else fails, just acquire the opponents.

"However, it's said that many German pharmaceutical companies also want to collaborate with the 'Prison BA' alliance. If they jointly develop new drugs..."

“Then they’ll be out of the game even faster!” John Anderson smiled confidently. “What makes the ‘Prison BA’ alliance capable of dominating drug regulation across industries? Isn’t it just the halo brought by their ‘counterattack on Europe’ and ‘cultural export’? If they rely on German technology to suppress their domestic counterparts, hehe…”

"As for the local legitimate pharmaceutical companies that cooperate with the 'Prison BA' alliance, I have already made secret contacts and we have reached a tacit understanding to stand together on this matter."

John Anderson leaned back tactically, settling into the comfortable leather chair. "What do you mean by 'the advantage is mine'?"

"Amazing! Absolutely amazing!"

Emil Pfizer could only give a thumbs up again.

He felt that his father, the founder of Pfizer, handing over the leadership of the company to an outsider was one of the most visionary decisions he had ever made.

If it were him, he definitely wouldn't be able to pull off this kind of behind-the-scenes manipulation.

……

We, who are usually the ones who make the fun, are suddenly being made the fun of ourselves. How can this be allowed?

The top executives of The Sun Group and the management of Fox River State Prison quickly gathered to discuss countermeasures.

"...The responses from the several pharmaceutical companies that we partnered with were almost identical."

A member of Fox River's management team recounted the outcome of the communication.
"They said they could help us quell the opposition within the industry. However, the prerequisite is that the regulatory center should operate within the 'self-regulation' framework of the pharmaceutical industry, and we can act as advocates and participants, sharing the credit..."

Wade Berwick was furious. He slammed his fist on the table and yelled, "Without the huge commotion we created, who the hell would care about drug regulation?! Now that there's profit to be made, you want to reap the rewards? Dream on!"

"No control? What's the point of us even doing this? We might as well just give up!"

After joining Fox River, he had a smooth and successful career, and he simply couldn't accept that all his hard work would be for nothing but the benefit of others.

Old Comrade Richard shook his head. "Giving up? Now the whole of America knows we're going to establish a 'Center for Drug Control,' and we've made such a big splash. If we suddenly back out, what will the outside world think of us? All our previous 'victories' will become a joke! Do you think our reputation is too good?"

Some have suggested another approach: "What about German pharmaceutical companies? Aren't their chemical capabilities widely recognized as stronger? Why not collaborate with them?"

Richard continued to shake his head, only pointing out one thing: "Don't forget, just a few years ago, Germany was a hostile force fighting us to the death on the European battlefield! Do you think we'll be labeled 'traitors' if we rely on the Germans to help regulate our domestic pharmaceutical companies?"

The meeting reached a stalemate.

If they move forward, they risk being sidelined by legitimate pharmaceutical companies and losing control; if they retreat, their reputation will be ruined and all their previous efforts will be wasted; if they seek external assistance, they may trigger an even more dangerous political minefield.

All eyes eventually turned to Logan, the instigator of the incident, who had remained silent and simply listened to the argument.

Brother, you proposed the regulatory center's plan, and now they're in a dilemma. What are your thoughts?

Under everyone's watchful eyes, Logan was quite decisive: "Since they want the 'qualification,' we'll give them an 'qualification' they can't refuse. We'll publicly challenge all pharmaceutical companies in the US to a bet on who can develop the strongest new drug!"

"If we win, all doubts about our 'unqualified' or 'unprofessional' status will naturally disappear! At that time, with the momentum of a resounding victory, there will be no more substantial obstacles to our efforts to establish a regulatory center. That is the most solid qualification!"

"What if...we fail?" someone asked cautiously.

“If we lose, we can just back out gracefully!” Logan shrugged. “Then we can announce that, through practice, we’ve found that drug development does indeed have extremely high professional barriers, and the alliance has decided to respect the expertise and withdraw with dignity. Besides, the act of publicly betting is itself a fantastic marketing opportunity!”

Almost everyone suddenly realized, their faces showing understanding, thinking that this was Logan's key point.

It seems like this is the only way. Nobody really thinks that an inexperienced league can come up with any amazing new drugs. A public, conceded defeat, in exchange for a huge wave of traffic and buzz, is barely a loss.

Only Richard looked at Logan with suspicion.

You little brat, do you really think you can let those who want to take advantage of you off so easily? What kind of wicked scheme is hidden behind this seemingly surrendering and admitting defeat attitude?
That's why people say it's hard to fool acquaintances.
Richard's intuition was right.

Logan was thinking: Move aside, I'm about to start showing off, no, I'm about to start making up stories, I'm being forced to become America's Medicine God!

……

(End of this chapter)