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ex Member
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Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: New York
Posts: 93
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ex Member
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: New York
Posts: 93
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Quote:
Originally Posted by boann
setting aside for the moment the cost of coming up with a completely new drug, if one did appear that actually worked, 1) it would topple the levodopa/adjunct empire, 2) it would eliminate all potential for future growth, because it would actually work, and 3) it would not be generic for some years, i.e., only one company would profit from it for X years, and all the others would lose the income they have relied on for years and years.
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All completely true.
The medical process has a fundamental flaw.
1. In order to market a medical product a company needs a marketing licence from the medical authorities (such as the FDA).
2. In order to get a medical licence you must provide evidence from clinical trials.
3. Clinical trials can be very expensive (asyou've sen from your other thread).
4. Large pharmaceutical companies are largely the only ones that can afford such clinical trials.
5. In order to protect their product they will insist on patent protection.
6. Unless a medicine is synthetic it is very very difficult to get patent protection.
7. Synthetic substances can be effective at first but will (largely via feedback inhibition) be counterproductive in the long term. They eventually cause the problems they initially relieved.
Therefore, the medical process largely limits new medicines to patented synthetic substances produced by large finance driven pharmaceutical companies that eventually end up making people worse.
Do they care ?
Not as long as they keep on making their huge profits.
They have the medical establishment in their pockets - with eminent professors and doctors on their pay roles. Their large sales teams convince medical practitioners that their products are actually good.
What can be done ?
Make the medical licence process far far cheaper with less stringent requirements for non synthetic substances and methods.
This would open up the process to a greater diversity of people and products.
The pharmaceutical companies will do and have done everything to prevent this from occurring.
Who are the losers in this ?
The people with illnesses, the people who they make their profits from.
Last edited by The Godfather; 10-24-2006 at 10:24 AM.
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