[ExI] Problem with Pattents

[Rafal Smigrodzki]

On Mon, Feb 25, 2008 at 3:44 PM, Tom Tobin <korpios at korpios.com> wrote:

>  I think we're looking at the situation the wrong way.  Instead of "How
>  can pharma companies recoup their R&D costs?", I'd like to ask "Is
>  there a better way to enrich the public good regarding medicine?"
>  Between the questionable efficacy of many medical products and a
>  laborious FDA approval process, I don't think the current system is a
>  net gain; I'd rather see slower (and, hopefully, steadier) progress
>  (with a combination of public financing, cheap generics, and looser
>  regulations during a "prototype" testing period).  I'd also like to
>  see *far* more emphasis placed on prevention rather than treatment;
>  prevention is both cheaper *and* more effective.  A healthy diet and
>  exercise regimen alone is worth more than the fruit of decades of
>  research into new drugs.

### Yeah? How does that solve the problem of e.g. glioblastoma
multiforme? Healthy eating? Prevention??? lol

It's so easy to go handwaving with "enriching", "public good" and
other pleasant-sounding shibboleths. It's so difficult and expensive
to actually make something work.

Rafal