Yesterday on Face The Nation, Senator (and apparently Dr.) Arlen Specter shared his medical expertise with the world, stating the following: "And one of the items that I'm working on, Bob, is funding for medical research. If we had pursued what President Nixon declared in 1970 as the war on cancer, we would have cured many strains. I think Jack Kemp would be alive today. And that research has saved or prolonged many lives, including mine."
I would ask the good doctor what country has made more progress in the battle against cancer in the last 39 years? Take a peak at this list of cancer drugs, nearly all of which have been approved since 1970. And all without the benefit of the wise council of centralized planning that Dr. Specter apparently thinks would have saved Jack Kemp's life. If Specter wants to encourage funding for medical research, he should work to avoid the dampening effect on funding that will result from nationalizing health care.
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2 comments:
Jack Kemp's legacy and the memory of his rugged patriotism have more power to shape the future of the United States than Specter does as a living, breathing life form, now or in the future.
I think you ought to do more research into who actually funds drug research. Here's a quote to start you off:
Taxpayers pay for most research costs, and many clinical trials as well.
In 2000, for example, industry spent 18% of its $13 billion for R&D on basic research, or $2.3 billion in gross costs (National Science Foundation 2003). All of that money was subsidized by taxpayers through deductions and tax credits. Taxpayers also paid for all $18 billion in NIH funds, as well as for R&D funds in the Department of Defense and other public budgets. Most of that money went for basic research to discover breakthrough drugs, and public money also supports more than 5000 clinical trials (Bassand, Martin, Ryden et al. 2002). Taxpayer contributions are similar in more recent years, only larger.
About 18% of the drug industry's research budget goes to basic research for breakthrough drugs. About 82% goes to derivative innovations on existing drugs and to testing.
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