Rosiedays said...
When I hear people complain about doctors and GI’s in particular, there seems to be an implication that they are against further research. Doctors are currently making decisions based on the latest evidence- based research and yes, we will learn more, things will change, I hope things will get better for us. I’m just sick of the argument “ we need more research” when it is implying that research is not taking place right now all the time, and doctors aren’t in favour of further research! I’m referring to some comments here, comments on other forums and things people have said to me at my work (especially in regards to diet). Feels good to get that out
We don't need "more research", we need a change in research priorities. The research focus with IBD is on immune suppression. They don't care about
anything else. There are splinter research groups looking into things like MAP theory and others. These groups, in my opinion, are going to come out ahead... as long as big pharma doesn't use their influence to destroy them first (which they have already tried doing). Eventually an independent group will discover something major that changes the fate of this disease, and then big pharma will either find a way to stop them, or they will find a way to take possession of the findings and take credit. Then they will modify treatments to not cure, but to symptom manage, and we will be back in the same state we're in now. Nothing will change until government policy forces big pharma to stop this corrupt behavior.
You correctly cite how the investment aspect of big pharma works, but you're overlooking one important detail. Medicine is an inflexible good, meaning that people will always need it. It's not like luxury goods, like buying a pair of shoes. With shoes I could buy a cheap pair or a high end pair. If I get sick, there may only be one drug available, and big pharma has oiled the system to create captive markets and non-competitive pricing. Government regulation is literally the only way to stop big pharma price inflation. It's what Britain and Canada do, but the U.S. won't do it because corporations have a strangle hold on government policy makers.
Our society and our economy are currently ill and getting worse because the scales have tipped too much toward profiteering. The point of capitalism is to grow capital, but in the 21st century we are now seeing its limitations. We are seeing an economic philosophy that is putting something imaginary (money) ahead of actual human beings.
Me personally, I think laws need to be written that clarify that medicine is its own special area of the economy. It should not be subject to the whims of fat cat capitalists simply because it could mean the difference between life and death. The same is true of real estate and housing. As long as these things are tied so strongly to free market investment, the fiduciary responsibility will always be toward making money and not helping people heal from diseases.
On top of this, the system is not neutral. Big pharma invests literally billions of dollars every year into political and social manipulation to keep things the way they are. If someone has an innovation that could cure people, they bury them. So, we're not just dealing with innocent money making, we are dealing with some people who are actually evil and will do malignant things to harm society in order to maximize their personal gain. I want to see that stopped.
Medical research was so much better when it was under public control. All of the best drugs got made at that time, and most of the crappy, expensive drugs that we have now are just slightly modified versions of those original genius inventions. We really need to return to a state of public research, but we can't do that as long as our members of Congress are getting their pockets lined $100-200K per person annually to protect big pharma.