4 ms·

Penicillin and ether were not covered by patents. Pretty sure those were two of the greatest of all time. On the patent side you have such modern marvels as Ox

by breck 6y ago

Penicillin and ether were not covered by patents. Pretty sure those were two of the greatest of all time. On the patent side you have such modern marvels as OxyContin, which has arguably caused more loss of life than COVID-19. Patented drugs are generally awful. The idea that it costs $1B to make a game changing drug is a lie. It costs $1T. The US taxpayer pays 99.9%, and the big pharma company spends a billion to generate some shitty subpar derivative that they can then get monopoly protection on and create an artificial racket supported by false marketing.

EdwardDiego 6y ago
Iirc the inventor of the Polio vaccine could've patented it, but chose not to.
nl 6y ago
All Opioid deaths between 1999 and 2017 were about 400k in the US. Well less than the Covid death toll in the US alone. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opioid_epidemic_in_the_United_States https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opioid_epidemic_in_the_Unite...
- breck 6y ago
  Average expected years left to live for a Covid death is about 11, prior to having any information on pre-existing conditions. Divide that by 2-3x once you are given pre-existing conditions. The average Opiod death is 3x that by years alone, and more when going by expected healthspan. Hence "loss of life" and not "deaths".
JamesBarney 6y ago
> Patented drugs are generally awful. The idea that it costs $1B to make a game changing drug is a lie. It costs $1T. The US taxpayer pays 99.9%, and the big pharma company spends a billion to generate some shitty subpar derivative that they can then get monopoly protection on and create an artificial racket supported by false marketing. This number is impossibly wrong. There were 48 new drugs brought to market in 2019. At an average cost of 1 trillion dollar per drug would mean the entire economy of both the U.S. and Europe were devoted to drug research which just isn't true.
- breck 6y ago
  stdlib

by breck 6y ago

EdwardDiego 6y ago

Iirc the inventor of the Polio vaccine could've patented it, but chose not to.

nl 6y ago

All Opioid deaths between 1999 and 2017 were about 400k in the US. Well less than the Covid death toll in the US alone. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opioid_epidemic_in_the_United_States https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opioid_epidemic_in_the_Unite...

breck 6y ago
Average expected years left to live for a Covid death is about 11, prior to having any information on pre-existing conditions. Divide that by 2-3x once you are given pre-existing conditions. The average Opiod death is 3x that by years alone, and more when going by expected healthspan. Hence "loss of life" and not "deaths".

JamesBarney 6y ago

> Patented drugs are generally awful. The idea that it costs $1B to make a game changing drug is a lie. It costs $1T. The US taxpayer pays 99.9%, and the big pharma company spends a billion to generate some shitty subpar derivative that they can then get monopoly protection on and create an artificial racket supported by false marketing. This number is impossibly wrong. There were 48 new drugs brought to market in 2019. At an average cost of 1 trillion dollar per drug would mean the entire economy of both the U.S. and Europe were devoted to drug research which just isn't true.

breck 6y ago
stdlib