Withholding the Cure: Difference between revisions

Good news! There is finally a cure for that horrible disease. Too bad the cure is owned by [[Peace and Love Incorporated]], who refuse to distribute it because they believe they can squeeze more money out of people who remain sick, or by the evil overlord who ''wants'' the people to die off so he can move in and occupy the land.

 

 

Compare and contrast [[Manufacturing Victims]], which involves therapists keeping their patients in therapy. Then there's withholding medication to keep people in therapy, or withholding therapy to keep people on medication, both of which can be [[Truth in Television]]: In [[Real Life]], some people need medication, some need therapy, some need a combination of both, and many need neither.

 

== [[Live Action TV]] ==

* There was an episode of ''[[Barney Miller]]'' where the perp was a research scientist who had destroyed the property of his former employers because they refused to let him research the cure for [some disease] on the grounds that it wasn't fatal and there were too few sufferers for a cure to be profitable. Barney managed to talk his former boss into dropping charges and rehiring the guy, partly with the argument that by the time the cure was developed there may be an epidemic, "with any luck."

* Played with in an episode of ''[[Star Trek: The Next Generation]]''. A race contracted a plague and believes they need continued treatments provided by another race to stay alive. Dr. Crusher, however, discovers that the plague has been cured, and it's only the withdrawal symptoms of the treatment that make them think they still need it. The other race are very aware of this and continue to exploit them, as their economy depends on it. While the [[Alien Non-Interference Clause|Prime Directive]] forbids [[The Captain|Picard]] from revealing the truth to the wronged race, he finds a way to correct the situation by refusing repairs to their few remaining ships. Without the ships, they will have no way to get the cure and will eventually realize they're not actually sick.

 

== [[Video Games]] ==

** In ''Case West'', {{spoiler|[[Big Bad]] [[Evil Cripple]] Marian Mallon - who proudly displays a giant zombie bite on her cheek - implies that the accusations are true, and they are suppressing the cure in favor of distributing Zombrex for money and [[For the Evulz]]. [[Villains Never Lie]], but can you say [[Sequel Hook]]?}}

* This is one of many conspiracies present in ''[[Deus Ex]]'' - taken [[Up to Eleven]] as the people who control the treatment also ''created the plague.''