Jerry Lewis Telethon

[CAP1]

But it was in fact an excellent example.

Think about this. MD is often genetic. Yet DNA shows that many people have genetic traits that make them different genetically from billions of other people on the face of the earth, different enough that DNA can prove to conclusively exclude 10 billion other people as having given that sample. That being the case, a disease affecting genes and genetics can be as different in each of the people it afflicts as the people are from others. So, how do you research that?

at the risk of oversimplifying.........

 they have to solve one piece first....then go on to the next piece of the puzzle. one piece at a time. eventually they will all fall into place.

 that being said, i don't even remotely think the researchers have an easy job.

[Captain Virgil Hilts]

I donated around $10,000 to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation - also because I have that disease. At the last fund raiser we did around $700,000 in donations - which was down about 50% from the previous year. Everyone who says the money is in the treatment is absolutely on the mark. Over my lifetime, I will end up spending around $500,000 just in meds and supplies to keep me alive. If you put the intellectual capital on an artificial pancreas to say a GE - that would be a crash program in 6 months. In the end, what its going to take is for someone who is really well endowed (in the billions) for their kid to get sick - and they will cut a check, and say FIX IT.

That's how it gets done gentlemen.

You'd think so. The problem with that theory is that the children of the fabulously wealthy have been, and continue to be, afflicted with all sorts of diseases. There are some things that the human mind just has not yet been able to conquer, and the complexity that is the human body is one of them. When we find out how to actually utilize the potential of the human brain, we will once again make great leaps and bounds towards cures.

[Captain Virgil Hilts]

at the risk of oversimplifying.........

 they have to solve one piece first....then go on to the next piece of the puzzle. one piece at a time. eventually they will all fall into place.

 that being said, i don't even remotely think the researchers have an easy job.

But there are as many pieces as there are people.

[Tigger29]

I don't know.. I think people are pointing fingers at the pharmaceutical companies too much.  If any of you really had any idea as to how expensive all of this R&D is... well it's like the government (not turning this into a political debate)... but if you try to wrap your mind around how much money it takes.. it's just too much to imagine!

And then you factor in the discounts that the insurance companies demand, and it ends up that the pharmaceuticals really don't make that much money off of the drugs they produce.  As a matter of fact, I seem to recall reading some kind of statistic that something like 75% of their profits come from "luxury" medications not covered by insurance... such as Viagra or Cialis.  I don't know exactly how true or accurate that is, but I can see how it could be correct.

On top of all of that, I really don't feel that it is the pharmaceutical companies' "job" to be finding cures for diseases.  That's what research doctors and biological scientists are for... funded by grants from individuals, companies, and of course, governments.

[BoilerDown]

I don't know.. I think people are pointing fingers at the pharmaceutical companies too much.  If any of you really had any idea as to how expensive all of this R&D is... well it's like the government (not turning this into a political debate)... but if you try to wrap your mind around how much money it takes.. it's just too much to imagine!

And then you factor in the discounts that the insurance companies demand, and it ends up that the pharmaceuticals really don't make that much money off of the drugs they produce.  As a matter of fact, I seem to recall reading some kind of statistic that something like 75% of their profits come from "luxury" medications not covered by insurance... such as Viagra or Cialis.  I don't know exactly how true or accurate that is, but I can see how it could be correct.

On top of all of that, I really don't feel that it is the pharmaceutical companies' "job" to be finding cures for diseases.  That's what research doctors and biological scientists are for... funded by grants from individuals, companies, and of course, governments.

Great post.  I worked for a pharmaceutical research company for nine years (as IT granted, but I got to sit in on meetings where things such as this were discussed), and its quite clear that most people who complain about the cost of drugs just don't "get it". 

However, it is also somewhat true that the United States researches and pays for drugs that the entire world benefits from basically for free.  There are foreign drug research firms but not nearly on the same scale as the industry in the US, especially when you compare population sizes.  It just happens to be something not so easily outsourced.  The good news is that the rest of the world sends their best and brightest here, which has many benefits for us, but if I elaborate much on the H1-B visa and immigration, we'll soon run into a rule violation for these forums.  Lets just say I agree with Bill Gates.

And the other thing I'll add is that all the low hanging fruit has already been picked.

[ZetaNine]

at the very least.......I am stunned that there have been no major disease cures since........ the cure of polio.

and that cure....... was not funded by big money.

the goal is pure.....perhaps the map to get there has been perverted by money.

[warhed]

If you give a little time researching you will find hundreds and even thousands of great examples of recent medicines and treatments.  The first that comes to mind is AIDs treatments,  AIDs used to be a death sentence, and as of today, people can live high quality fruitful lives.  There is even a workings AIDs vaccine being tested by the US Army in Thailand. 
How about cancer treatments?  The majority of cancers are no longer considered terminal diseases.  We've done more in the last 20 years than in all of human history.

[warhed]

Or how about linking cervical cancer with HPV, and how about the HPV vaccine?  How about the morning after pill, a birth control pill that does not affect implantation, a "cure" for abortion?  Work in organ transplants, hand transplants....etc.

[CAP1]

If you give a little time researching you will find hundreds and even thousands of great examples of recent medicines and treatments.  The first that comes to mind is AIDs treatments,  AIDs used to be a death sentence, and as of today, people can live high quality fruitful lives.  There is even a workings AIDs vaccine being tested by the US Army in Thailand. 
How about cancer treatments?  The majority of cancers are no longer considered terminal diseases.  We've done more in the last 20 years than in all of human history.

cancer took my grandmother 15 years ago.

[warhed]

cancer took my grandmother 15 years ago.

Took my grandfather 15 year ago as well, sorry for your loss CAP.
Each cancer is a pretty unique disease, there will never be a single cure for cancer, each one will have to be treated differently.
We also have to remember humans weren't designed to live much past 30 let alone into our 80s and 90s.  That alone is quite a medical feat, but there are consequences for it. 

[CAP1]

Took my grandfather 15 year ago as well, sorry for your loss CAP.
Each cancer is a pretty unique disease, there will never be a single cure for cancer, each one will have to be treated differently.
We also have to remember humans weren't designed to live much past 30 let alone into our 80s and 90s.  That alone is quite a medical feat, but there are consequences for it. 

yea, i know. it just seemed to hit so suddenly.....one visit to the dr, she was fine, next one, she had lumps here and there....they admitted her into the hospital, and it went rapidly downhill from there.

 the loss of her, and of my grandfather are the only things in my adult life that ever brought me to tears....and if i think long enough about it, it still can. they were the absolute 2 most important people in my life. without them, i'd not be half of the man i am now.......if i was still alive........

[FiLtH]

  I had a customer that worked in drug research years back, and he said that it took close to 30 years for one drug he had worked on to reach the public. I do agree with CAP1's statement though.

 

[jimson]

I worked for MDA for nearly a decade. 

I admit to having a healthy cynicism looking at their super nice office complex, well paid executives etc.

You know what though? They have to compete with the corporate world for the best employees, They don't want inexpensive, but ineffective people running the show.

Their office building? Very nice, but they did move their national headquarters from NYC to Tucson, Arizona
as a cost cutting measure.

All I can say is that the employees all the way up to the CEO, were extraordinarily dedicated to the cause and to the people the organization serves.

[ZetaNine]

I'm absolutely convinced that EVERYONE associated with MDA is after a cure...no doubt in my mind.

it's the researchers they ...and other charities ...fund, who I wonder about.

again I want to reiterate...I am talking about an all out CURE to major diseases.

let's face it... it someone agreed to hand you $100 bills through your window... every five seconds...until you successfully told them how to make the color purple... how long would you wait to tell them mix red and blue?

[warhed]

I'm absolutely convinced that EVERYONE associated with MDA is after a cure...no doubt in my mind.

it's the researchers they ...and other charities ...fund, who I wonder about.

again I want to reiterate...I am talking about an all out CURE to major diseases.

let's face it... it someone agreed to hand you $100 bills through your window... every five seconds...until you successfully told them how to make the color purple... how long would you wait to tell them mix red and blue?

The beauty of capitalism is things like medicines and cures can be made into profits.  No profits, and hardly anyone is going to spend the reasearch and money on them. 
Conversely, if you don't come through on new medicines and treatments, you don't make money.
Pretty simple equation in my mind