Quote from: gentlemand on May 17, 2017, 01:43:08 PM

Quote from: nfcmgjh on May 16, 2017, 06:28:21 PM

That is a myth.

So what of the drugs that save lives and take decades and billions of dollars to develop? Where's the incentive for anyone or anything to take the long view and do all that work for zero return?

Similarly there's no way I'd ever bother making a film or writing a book if entitled little shits decided my work had no value and just nicked it. I'll go and do something that will reward for me for my time.

That's a trade. If you were a plumber I wouldn't expect you to work for nothing.

Times that by an entire planet and it looks like a rather more desolate place.

Who really are the 'entitled little shits'?

It isn't about getting paid for work, it's about not getting powerful lawyers to help you extort ridiculous profits and prevent use by others of an idea that developed from old ideas anyway.

Regarding drugs etc. 99.9999999% of good medicines have been invented not for profit, and 99.99999999% of the toxic high profit poison passed as medicine comes from biopharma slugs trying to produce new chemicals to keep their jobs.

Drugs and biotech should be developed at Universities, where ethics are not hidden so easily.

The most profitable commercial drug ever was Lipitor. It has taken many billions of dollars from people and given the money to big pharma to pay for more lawyers and lobbyists to promote their other drugs http://www.winknews.com/2017/04/26/are-cholesterol-and-blood-pressure-drugs-necessary/

Are expensive pharma drugs really doing that much for people? Would humans suddenly stop living long lives if Pfizer isn't treated like a handicapped child that needs every possible accommodation?

For pharma companies it isn't about developing drugs or helping people, it's about making money https://consumerist.com/2017/04/26/lawsuit-epipen-price-hikes-were-intended-to-keep-competitor-out-of-pharmacies/

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-04-28/novo-nordisk-is-sued-over-diabetes-drug-sales-practices

http://www.theintelligencer.net/news/top-headlines/2017/01/west-virginia-drug-company-agrees-to-pay-record-150m-settlement/

http://legalnewsline.com/stories/511077670-teva-will-pay-519-million-in-doj-settlement-over-fcpa-allegations

https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/key-officials-switch-sides-from-dea-to-pharmaceutical-industry/2016/12/22/55d2e938-c07b-11e6-b527-949c5893595e_story.html

https://www.popsugar.com/news/Victoria-Starr-Historic-Johnson-Johnson-Settlement-42944055

Universities might be interested in developing medicines that work. Pharmaceutical companies want cash and they will use all kinds of tricks to get it.