[conanbatt]

> Step #1 should be to give a huge wad of money to the FDA. Say $1B/yr. Then you tell the FDA: every year, pick the 50 most promising drug candidates. Publicly fund the clinical trials, and the public will own the patent. Give some cash to the inventor and the institute to incentivize them to do this scheme and not sell to pharma.

I think the FDA is whats making drugs prohibitively expensive. First by disallowing the importation of drugs, second by putting a very conservative standard on the commercialization of drugs.

You are right about something, the policy is unappealing for either side. The right doesn't want to give more money to the FDA, and the left doesn't care about giving a gov institution pocket money, they want to outright outlaw profits as a whole.

Call yourself Elon because you are on Mars :)

[Aloha]

The standard we have for drugs now was paid for in lives.

Elixir Sulfonamide, Profusion of Barbiturate use in the 50's, Thalidomide (which the US missed because of our more stringent rules), Phen-Fen - I can go on.

[conanbatt]

The standard you have now is also paid with lives. It's the people that can't get a drug in time or can't pay for it thats killing people.