7 ms·

Its like making lightbulbs, terrible for business to make them last long.

by tonis2 5y ago

thendrill 5y ago
Also why bother making light bulbs. Just change the definition of candle to lightbulb....
throwaway4good 5y ago
Yeah. It is probably a worldwide conspiracy by those scientist people just like in that V scifi show.
- forgotmypw17 5y ago
  They've never lied before, and they're not about to start.
- dham 5y ago
  The lightbulb reference was actually a thing.
  - nickpp 5y ago
    And even that conspiracy didn’t last for long.
- White_Wolf 5y ago
  He does have a point though. Recurrent income is a lot better than 1 sale in any business. Scientists can have all the good will in the world if they are not allowed to publish by those sponsoring the research or not even given the funds to do the research in the first place.
  - retrac 5y ago
    For example, consider the rather enormous amounts of money the industry spends on developing new statin after statin for blood pressure control. Many newer ones are more or less medically indistinguishable from existing ones on the market, but they are chemically distinct enough to be patentable. Similar story with SSRI antidepressants. Compare with the absolute dearth of research on new antibiotics and vaccines (until recently). We need those far more than we need yet another statin or SSRI, but those you can sell daily for life, and the others are a single dose.
    - technothrasher 5y ago
      > developing new statin after statin for blood pressure control. Statins are developed to reduce cholesterol, not blood pressure. While there is some thin evidence that statins might effect BP, there's certainly nobody developing them for that currently.
  - pgeorgi 5y ago
    In this particular instance "not allowed to publish" _definitely_ wasn't the problem, seeing how much crap had been published simply because it has "SARS-Cov-2" in its title. The research dynamics around Covid19 are very different from those of some run-off-the-mill treatment that was for the most part developed within the private sector (and might or might not have been met with kindness at the top level management which has been approving the POs) I can easily imagine various pharma companies individually (and without any kind of collusion!) de-emphasizing a cure in favor of a recurring treatment because each follows their self-interest.[1] In this case, money has been thrown at them with the explicit project description "develop a cure so that public policy can return to normal" (and as is quite normal, policy makers want it done quickly so they look good. I can live with that.) [1] It only takes one research facility to work on the same issue without such an incentive to make an entire industry scramble towards having the best cure (because otherwise they'd lose the treatment income _and_ leave the cure to somebody else). Identifying candidates where bean counters optimize for treatments even when a cure is possible, and then investing in such areas, might be public money well spent.
  - throwaway4good 5y ago
    Ah. But this is exactly the argument the lizard people from outer space are making in V. However it turns that the scientists are actually the good guys as their grounded, systematic, critical thinking is key to prevent the free world from being taken over by evil manipulating entities. People should really rewatch this show.
hdjjhhvvhga 5y ago
While I don't agree with the cynic aspect of your comment, I do think that now, after so much money and effort was spent on vaccines and we more or less know their efficacy in practice, I do wonder if we shouldn't more on a cure now. There are some interesting developments but the discussions everywhere are focused on the vaccines. If vaccination means we should get a shot every 3 months, I do wonder if we are really heading in the right direction.
- m45t3r 5y ago
  Prevention generally is better than cure. And it is not like scientists are not researching for alternative treatments, it is just that unless they got some positive result the media will not announce it.
  - mewpmewp2 5y ago
    There was anti viral cure which Pfizer just announced trial results of phase 2. Supposedly 90% efficacy when administered 3 days after symptoms to prevent hospitalisations and deaths.
  - DiffEq 5y ago
    There is no push to do what we KNOW reduces the risk of Covid 19 and that is to get healthy. By now everybody could have lost a bunch of weight and shed their type 2 diabetes and could now be in a much lower risk profile for all causes of death…not just Covid. But almost nowhere do you see the government or anyone else saying one should do that. Probably because there isn’t any money in it and people are lazy.
    - CapricornNoble 5y ago
      Yeah, we'll never have a President that is honest enough to give a State of the Union address where he says "Hey you fatasses! Stop eating McDonald's, and do some air squats every day in your home! Then maybe we wouldn't need to pass 4000-page health insurance laws! Bro, do you even lift?"
m45t3r 5y ago
Considering that even people infected by the virus had recurrent cases after a while (and in a much greater proportion than vaccinated people BTW), it is much more likely that this is thanks on how this specific virus works than some conspiracy theory to sell more vaccines.

Its like making lightbulbs, terrible for business to make them last long.

by tonis2 5y ago

Its like making lightbulbs, terrible for business to make them last long.

thendrill 5y ago

Also why bother making light bulbs. Just change the definition of candle to lightbulb....

throwaway4good 5y ago

Yeah. It is probably a worldwide conspiracy by those scientist people just like in that V scifi show.

forgotmypw17 5y ago
They've never lied before, and they're not about to start.
dham 5y ago
The lightbulb reference was actually a thing.
- nickpp 5y ago
  And even that conspiracy didn’t last for long.
White_Wolf 5y ago
He does have a point though. Recurrent income is a lot better than 1 sale in any business. Scientists can have all the good will in the world if they are not allowed to publish by those sponsoring the research or not even given the funds to do the research in the first place.
- retrac 5y ago
  For example, consider the rather enormous amounts of money the industry spends on developing new statin after statin for blood pressure control. Many newer ones are more or less medically indistinguishable from existing ones on the market, but they are chemically distinct enough to be patentable. Similar story with SSRI antidepressants. Compare with the absolute dearth of research on new antibiotics and vaccines (until recently). We need those far more than we need yet another statin or SSRI, but those you can sell daily for life, and the others are a single dose.
  - technothrasher 5y ago
    > developing new statin after statin for blood pressure control. Statins are developed to reduce cholesterol, not blood pressure. While there is some thin evidence that statins might effect BP, there's certainly nobody developing them for that currently.
- pgeorgi 5y ago
  In this particular instance "not allowed to publish" _definitely_ wasn't the problem, seeing how much crap had been published simply because it has "SARS-Cov-2" in its title. The research dynamics around Covid19 are very different from those of some run-off-the-mill treatment that was for the most part developed within the private sector (and might or might not have been met with kindness at the top level management which has been approving the POs) I can easily imagine various pharma companies individually (and without any kind of collusion!) de-emphasizing a cure in favor of a recurring treatment because each follows their self-interest.[1] In this case, money has been thrown at them with the explicit project description "develop a cure so that public policy can return to normal" (and as is quite normal, policy makers want it done quickly so they look good. I can live with that.) [1] It only takes one research facility to work on the same issue without such an incentive to make an entire industry scramble towards having the best cure (because otherwise they'd lose the treatment income _and_ leave the cure to somebody else). Identifying candidates where bean counters optimize for treatments even when a cure is possible, and then investing in such areas, might be public money well spent.
- throwaway4good 5y ago
  Ah. But this is exactly the argument the lizard people from outer space are making in V. However it turns that the scientists are actually the good guys as their grounded, systematic, critical thinking is key to prevent the free world from being taken over by evil manipulating entities. People should really rewatch this show.

hdjjhhvvhga 5y ago

While I don't agree with the cynic aspect of your comment, I do think that now, after so much money and effort was spent on vaccines and we more or less know their efficacy in practice, I do wonder if we shouldn't more on a cure now. There are some interesting developments but the discussions everywhere are focused on the vaccines. If vaccination means we should get a shot every 3 months, I do wonder if we are really heading in the right direction.

m45t3r 5y ago
Prevention generally is better than cure. And it is not like scientists are not researching for alternative treatments, it is just that unless they got some positive result the media will not announce it.
- mewpmewp2 5y ago
  There was anti viral cure which Pfizer just announced trial results of phase 2. Supposedly 90% efficacy when administered 3 days after symptoms to prevent hospitalisations and deaths.
- DiffEq 5y ago
  There is no push to do what we KNOW reduces the risk of Covid 19 and that is to get healthy. By now everybody could have lost a bunch of weight and shed their type 2 diabetes and could now be in a much lower risk profile for all causes of death…not just Covid. But almost nowhere do you see the government or anyone else saying one should do that. Probably because there isn’t any money in it and people are lazy.
  - CapricornNoble 5y ago
    Yeah, we'll never have a President that is honest enough to give a State of the Union address where he says "Hey you fatasses! Stop eating McDonald's, and do some air squats every day in your home! Then maybe we wouldn't need to pass 4000-page health insurance laws! Bro, do you even lift?"

m45t3r 5y ago

Considering that even people infected by the virus had recurrent cases after a while (and in a much greater proportion than vaccinated people BTW), it is much more likely that this is thanks on how this specific virus works than some conspiracy theory to sell more vaccines.