Others as well, and agree.

Post #72,997 by Steve Lowe 1/6/03 4:02:21 PM Reply	Others as well, and agree. Even a law mandating an industry consortium come up with a standard paper-trail process could do a lot of good. I've seen this happen in several industries, particularly automotive. Prescriptions: I read recently that patents awarded for prescriptions are for SEVENTEEN years. I'm all for pharmaceutical companies recovering their investment in R&D, but they ought to have to justify it..and 17 years seem ludicrous. Also, FDA processes needs improved and simplified to lower some of that cost. Hospital expenses: Is it just me or is anyone else amazed at constant contruction/remodeling of hospital facilities? I'm almost disgusted at the quality of furnishings, architecture, lighting, etc. that I see in Hospitals. ----- Steve
Post #73,006 by ben_tilly 1/6/03 4:28:23 PM Reply	All patents are 17 years And given the costs of the research piplines, biotech is one of the few places where that figure seems defensible IMHO. Cheers, Ben "Career politicians are inherently untrustworthy; if it spends its life buzzing around the outhouse, it\ufffds probably a fly." - [link\|http://www.nationalinterest.org/issues/58/Mead.html\|Walter Mead]
Post #73,011 by a6l6e6x 1/6/03 4:48:04 PM Reply	Re: defensible? 17 years is defensible but endless patent [link\|http://home.cwru.edu/activism/READ/WP032502.html\|extensions] are not. "To me, profit is not a dirty word, but you've also got to play by the rules," said South Dakota Gov. William J. Janklow, a Republican running for Congress. "What the drug companies are doing is obvious. They get to the very end of a patent, then change the color or throw in an inert ingredient and claim they need a new patent." In the past two years, Bristol-Myers Squibb has stalled the market debut of generic versions of its diabetes medication Glucophage, the anti-anxiety drug BuSpar and cancer therapies Platinol and Taxol, say the researchers for the Business for Affordable Medicine coalition. In the case of Prilosec, AstraZeneca argues it is strictly following the provisions of the law, first taking advantage of the pediatric exclusivity and then suing Andrx Corp. for what it believes are patent violations. "We have not taken advantage of any loopholes in Hatch-Waxman," company spokeswoman Rachel Bloom-Baglin said. The case is pending in a New York court. Alex "No man's life, liberty, or property are safe while the legislature is in session."\t-- Mark Twain
Post #73,017 by ben_tilly 1/6/03 5:20:00 PM Reply	Agreed "Career politicians are inherently untrustworthy; if it spends its life buzzing around the outhouse, it\ufffds probably a fly." - [link\|http://www.nationalinterest.org/issues/58/Mead.html\|Walter Mead]

Welcome to IWETHEY!