>So, any researcher would not easily find a funder and the big pharmaceuticals would surely shy away, >notwithstanding the fact that such research >had yielded valuable knowledge, and in some cases bonanza, in the past.
Uttam, trust me, if big pharma saw a bonanza at the end of the tunnel, they would get in on the action. Like most businesses, they would weigh the probabilities of success, and the investment they are willing to risk. This may not be common knowledge to people in other countries, but the US capitalist model (IMHO) has a number of socialistic (public welfare) programs already in place. Some of these are the Social Security (the safety net), subsidized tuition grants (Pell grant) etc for students, the welfare payments for the indigent, unemployment benefits, so on so forth. In some of these, the recipient also pays in a portion (like unemployment and social security). There are also special programs/subsidies/grants for the disabled, and destitute/orphan children. These are not the best, but I think, they are in fact better than many countries, India, maybe even China. Capitalism, also needs some doses of socialism (social welfare programs) to be successful. The US and most other capitalist countries have a good mesh of the best things of other systems. It is totally incorrect to think the US model emulates a laissez faire system. That is far from reality. The US Govt. does intercede when it deems necessary (the bailouts of banks, automakers etc) or in other matters (like the oil spill, Katrina). BTW: If you undertook a casual research, of the important drugs & procedures invented over the last 50 years or so, you will find the US right on top of the list. Many of these are life-saving drugs/procedures, and the companies that market them are usually the US pharmas. You and others can term these as some selfish capitalist greed, but at the end of the day, lives are saved and improved. As far as compartmentalization is concerned, - it works for me. This is because I can only process a couple of things at a time. If I were to consider the whole gamut of an issue, its effects, root causes, after effects etc, I would still be sitting there trying to figure it all out. :-) The benefits are many: Take a problem, divide into small manageable parts, then solve each (the easiest first). Take them all on at one time, and you will likely not solve any of them. :-) The bird's eye view is good too - when one wants to get a picture of the whole issue at one go :-) --Ram da http://www.fda.gov/forindustry/developingproductsforrarediseasesconditions/default.htm http://www.fda.gov/ForIndustry/DevelopingProductsforRareDiseasesConditions/WhomtoContactaboutOrphanProductDevelopment/ucm134580.htm On Sun, Aug 22, 2010 at 8:43 AM, uttam borthakur <[email protected] > wrote: > I am not familiar with this subject at all; but a small write up on this > made me think. > There are some rare diseases affecting a numerically very small segment of > a population. Though search for the cure of a rare condition affecting eye > and neck muscles led to the discovery of Botox, the anti-wrinkle agent, that > has become a big business (including bootlegging of the substance), > the search for the cure of such rare conditions are not undertaken by big > pharmaceuticals. > It makes whole lot of sense in a capitalist market system which is driven > by profit-motive. So, factors like huge cost of R & D, clinical trial and > gestation period keep the financiers at bay. More so, when the chance of > success with the project is uncertain, and the recovery of cost is dim due > to the small size of the affected patient population. So, any researcher > would not easily find a funder and the big pharmaceuticals would surely shy > away, notwithstanding the fact that such research had yielded valuable > knowledge, and in some cases bonanza, in the past. > So, if the things are left to the invisible hands of the market forces, the > ideal form of capitalism, it would mean and imply that those damned by the > rare conditions would not stand a chance, unless of course some freak > finding in other field of research come for their deliverance. > On the other hand, even those who believe in capitalism as the ideal, and > in fact considers it as the end of history, would consider this condemnation > of the small segments of population, afflicted by rare diseases, as cruel. > To avoid this cruelty, even the citadel needs some contamination! The > legislators' hands have substituted the invisible hands of market forces in > the US, where an Act (Orphan Drugs Act) has been passed recently to give > market exclusivity to a big pharmaceutical, which would involve itself in > such a project, along with some other incentives. This may woo investment > the rare diseases' way, because, in spite of the small size of an suffering > population, market exclusivity would help the pharmaceuticals recover the > cost with profits, and it may mean a windfall in case something like Botox > comes up. No doubt, here too 'search for profit' would be the mainstay of > ensuring finance. But the fact remains that it creates some sort of level > playing field for small communities affected by rare diseases and the rest > of the people affected by abundant diseases. > As an aside, it may be added that in India, the Constitution, makes room > for concepts like 'reservation' 'autonomy' 'exemptions' etc. for certain > categories of people with the declared goal of providing some sort of level > playing field and also for protecting them from some misfortune, as groups. > Though such measures may seem odious from an elitist and advantaged > view-point, and has in fact led to gross abuse primarily due to the nature > of the ruling polity in India, those measures by themselves, may not qualify > for loathing, as an elitist view of the matter would suggest. > > > P.S. To Ram Sarangapani & Deepankar Medhi: This seems to be an incurable > trait in me; I fail to see the benefits of of compartmentalization. > Uttam Kumar Borthakur > > _______________________________________________ > assam mailing list > [email protected] > http://assamnet.org/mailman/listinfo/assam_assamnet.org > _______________________________________________ assam mailing list [email protected] http://assamnet.org/mailman/listinfo/assam_assamnet.org
