But moving beyond such a superficial look into the complex relationships that exist in the medical industry, what is the genuine significance of all of this information?
Weak firms were always likely to go under. (And some stronger ones are still expanding in Britain witness Honda's announcement this week that it will be producing a new model at its Swindon plant.) More important, the car industry has a totemic status that is out of proportion to its real economic significance.
And I think if you step back and look at some of the significance of today's events -- you've got the pharmaceutical industry and the largest group representing seniors in this country, who 16 years ago weren't at the table but were on the other side of the political debate.
The significance of natural gas production coming out of Gulf of Mexico has been somewhat disregarded by the industry for the last several few years due to the major advancements in shale gas production.