HAPPY NEW YEAR, 2019
Memorial Sloan Kettering is perhaps the foremost cancer
research organization in the world:
Hell, they have Nobel Prize winners washing the laboratory
glassware! But they are in trouble;
apparently some top dogs have been playing footsie with Big Pharma – without
their socks! This article explains the
situation:
I have written about the economics of the medical world many
times; Here are two examples:
and there are many more.
Well, the matter of drug pricing and medical economics in
general has exploded into scandal, and MSK is right at the heart of the
mess. MSK scientists – as well as
scientists from other major cancer research outfits – are known to serve on the
Boards of Big Pharma megaliths, and derive compensations into the mid six
figures thereby. Questions of conflict
of interest arise, and are not yet answered. Read the NYTimes link (above) to see how bad this problem has become.
My take:
1)
It requires freight-train loads of cash to develop a new drug – and much of the time that
drug will turn out to be a dud.
2)
Private enterprise can manage drug manufacturing
and testing more economically than can a public (governmental)
organization. You may not buy that, but
my experience suggests that it is correct.
3)
Top cancer researchers deserve princely incomes. If a mediocre NFL quarterback can make
several million a year, how much are these people in white coats worth?
4)
It is unhealthy to allow Big Pharma to exert
much, if any, influence over the path of medical research.
5)
I don’t know what to do about it. Do you?
Comment.
