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Politics : A US National Health Care System? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Road Walker who wrote (3104)	12/5/2007 7:41:40 PM
From: Mary Cluney	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 42652

<<<According to the NIH, taxpayer-funded scientists conducted 55 percent of the research projects that led to the discovery and development of the top five selling drugs in 1995.>>> I don't blame the drug company's use of taxpayer-funded scientists. If I were CEO of a drug company, I would not gamble investor money on risky R&D. I would only do research on sure bets like just making improvements on existing products that have good markets. People who want complete free market mechanisms to prevail would destroy our ability to compete. We need to continue and improve on our private and public partnership policies.

To: Road Walker who wrote (3104)	12/6/2007 8:22:46 AM
From: Lane3	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 42652

It's so hard these days to find data without an agenda. There are few sources that one can trust. So what do we do? We resort to common sense and a basic understanding of economics. The points in this article, even if accurate, don't address the question. Sure, it may cost a lot less and be a lot less risky to produce drugs than the numbers flying around. But so what? It stands to reason that if drug producers are squeezed enough there will be cuts in R&D. At question is only the location of that threshold. No doubt there is some fat there that can be cut without affecting R&D. No doubt there are changes that can be made in advertising to free up some funds for continued R&D. But sooner or later you reach the point where R&D will suffer. That is undeniable.