I am constantly amazed at the extent to which so much of the press is uninformed about the forces that are shoveling our money to the .01%. Consider this article from our local rag, the New London Day, in which not a word is uttered about the outrageousness of what these “scientists” are proposing to do:
East Lyme — John Jasper and his collaborators may have hit on a discovery that will revolutionize the drug industry.
Jasper, founder and chief executive of Niantic-based Nature’s Fingerprint, will publish a paper next month in the leading scientific journal Pharmaceutical Technology that opens the possibility of essentially re-patenting existing drugs and extending their lives for up to 20 years through a new process known as molecular isotopic engineering.”
…
These new formulations, which would have the same effect on patients as previously approved drugs, could perhaps more easily pass muster with regulators, Jasper said, since they are only slightly different from treatments previously approved — meaning they are likely equally safe. Jasper noted that every lot of common medicinal products is slightly different when analyzed using isotopes, yet they all have the same basic effect on patients.
“It’s a novel way to protect products,” Jasper said. “I hope it will generate more business.”
via the New London Day
So, Mr. Jasper has found a way to extend patent protection, and therefore outrageously high drug prices, for an additional 20 years, without contributing any improvement on the drugs that would otherwise enter the public domain and be available as generics. The Day seems blissfully unaware of this; we are supposed to think that it’s just great that this man has found a way to transfer money from us to him without giving us anything of value in return. Apparently, we should all be delighted at this stroke of genius.
In any rational world the Congress would take a look at this article and immediately pass legislation to prevent this robbery. But reason doesn’t have any lobbyists in Washington.
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