4 ms·

I didn't say they were on the market in other developed countries, since the drug approval bodies in those countries tend to face similar incentives. My point i

I didn't say they were on the market in other developed countries, since the drug approval bodies in those countries tend to face similar incentives. My point is that the process which requires drugs, even many existing generics, to go through extremely extensive testing for each possible application, is a problem because it means that only very large companies have the financial wherewhithal to get drugs through approval, and there is a strong incentive to focus on drugs which will be big sellers in a large market, rather than drugs for smaller markets. The trouble is that one does not see what was prevented from existing.

anigbrowl 10y ago
Then I'd say the primary problem is to reduce the cost of an access to clinical trials or improved flexibility in the trial requirements proportional to the size and plight of the patient population. The 'similar incentives' you mention are wanting to avoid public-health crises of the sort we have experienced many times in the past. The trouble is that one does not see what was prevented from existing. Opportunity cost is a basic fact of economics. It seems to me that people put a higher premium on reliability than novelty in this sphere; that is to say, the cost to society of people dying from terminal disease is less than that of people dying unexpectedly after treatment for less deadly conditions. Also, your statement assumes those cures will never be discoverable.