FISCAL FOOTSIE

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:

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/31/health/memorial-sloan-kettering-conflicts.html 

I have written about the economics of the medical world many times;  Here are two examples:

https://ljb-quiltcutie.blogspot.com/2013/04/what-should-cancer-drugs-cist.html 

https://ljb-quiltcutie.blogspot.com/2017/09/more-on-drug-pricing.html 

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.