The business of medicine - and the band played on...

Its official, I am starting to be concerned about the spread of Ebola to the developed world.  Now, let me make this clear, I doubt we would have a major epidemic in a country like the US.  But with the sheer number of cases reported and the fact that the epidemic is gaining steam makes the possibility of cases developing in the developed world more likely.  The WHO just released a very grim prognosis regarding the course of the epidemic in Africa and given the way things are going, I see why they are concerned.

Ebola outbreak spreading and showing no signs of peaking...

Yesterday, I  read an article in The Washington Post article about Ebola spreading to Senegal the following points were particularly worrying:

The business of medicine...the great doxycycline shortage...

It was with a  tremendous wave of dèjá vu that I watched NY Senator Chuck Schumer calling for the FDA to investigate a supposed shortage and massive price spikes seen for the common antibiotic doxycycline.

History of a doxycycline shortage...

Wasn't this problem solved last year?  This issue hits close to home because I have a dog that requires intermittent courses of doxycycline for severe Lyme disease.  Last year the price spiked to ridiculous levels over the summer and the pharmacist looked at me with sympathy when she gave me the bill for my dog.   Suddenly, what used to be about $40 tab skyrocketed to well north of $350.  She told me there was a temporary "shortage" of the drug and that had caused the price spikes.  Seriously?  SERIOUSLY?

The business of medicine...

In my previous blog, I discussed the business of science and why science itself is not,  and should never be, considered a business.  Today, as we see the widening Ebola epidemic spreading throughout West Africa I find myself thinking the same thing about medicine.

Medicine is not a business…

As in science,  there are businesses surrounding medicine.  Big pharma and biotech being far from the least among them.  As  I pointed out before, the science of pharma and biotech must not mix with the business unless you want to be buying hi-tech snake oil when you go to the pharmacy.

But there is another component here, often overlooked and currently underfunded even in developed nations:  the role of a strong public health program and the public funding for basic research.

The business of science...

This blog is going to begin with a premise that I know will raise some eyebrows.  It is quite simply this:

Science is not a business...

To a scientist, this is obvious, but from business people, I would expect howls of protest.  On the surface the statement is counter-intuitive.   After all, entire industries are based on what science has discovered.  We have massive numbers of industrial laboratories that would indicate otherwise.  According to the WHO, the pharmaceutical industry is a $300 billion/year industry and growing rapidly.  So what do I mean by such a provocative statement?

The Internet - the Interstate & Lemonade Stands…

I've taken a brief break from Thomas Piketty and have picked up a book I started reading last year but never finished.  Jaron Lanier's book "Who Owns the Future?"  is a very compelling read while it paints a frightening indictment of "big data" and "siren servers".   Indeed, the New York Times review of this book boasts the title  "Fighting Words Against Big Data".