Opis: $800 Million Pill The Truth behind the Cost of New Drugs - Merrill Goozner, M Goozner

Why do life-saving prescription drugs cost so much? Drug companies insist that prices reflect the millions they invest in research and development. In this gripping expose, Merrill Goozner contends that American taxpayers are in fact footing the bill twice: once by supporting government-funded research and again by paying astronomically high prices for prescription drugs. Goozner demonstrates that almost all the important new drugs of the past quarter-century actually originated from research at taxpayer-funded universities and at the National Institutes of Health. He reports that once the innovative work is over, the pharmaceutical industry often steps in to reap the profit. Goozner shows how drug innovation is driven by dedicated scientists intent on finding cures for diseases, not by pharmaceutical firms whose bottom line often takes precedence over the advance of medicine. A university biochemist who spent twenty years searching for a single blood protein that later became the best-selling biotech drug in the world, a government employee who discovered the causes for dozens of crippling genetic disorders, and the Department of Energy-funded research that made the Human Genome Project possible--these engrossing accounts illustrate how medical breakthroughs actually take place. The $800 Million Pill suggests ways that the government's role in testing new medicines could be expanded to eliminate the private sector waste driving up the cost of existing drugs. Pharmaceutical firms should be compelled to refocus their human and financial resources on true medical innovation, Goozner insists. This book is essential reading for everyone concerned about the politically charged topics of drug pricing, Medicare coverage, national health care, and the role of pharmaceutical companies in developing countries. "American expenditures on prescription drugs doubled between 1990 and 2000 and currently account for close to ten percent of total healthcare costs. Concerns about availability to seniors and the poor have led many to question these high costs, which pharmaceutical companies have always justified as necessary to spur the creation of new and better drugs. In this well-researched book, Goozner, former chief economics correspondent at the "Chicago Tribune, disputes these claims. He chronicles the actual clinical process by which new drugs come into being, from basic scientific research on disease processes conducted at universities and government labs to the synthesis of new chemicals."--"Library JournalIntroduction Part I. Biohype 1. The Longest Search 2. Rare Profits 3. The Source of the New Machine Part II. Directed Research 4. A Public-Private Partnership 5. The Divorce 6. Breakthrough! 7. The Failed Crusade? Part III. Big Pharma 8. Me Too! 9. The $800 Million Pill 10. The Future of Innovation Notes Bibliography Acknowledgments Index

Szczegóły: $800 Million Pill The Truth behind the Cost of New Drugs - Merrill Goozner, M Goozner

Tytuł: $800 Million Pill The Truth behind the Cost of New Drugs
Autor: Merrill Goozner, M Goozner
Producent: University of California Press
ISBN: 9780520246706
Rok produkcji: 2005
Ilość stron: 303
Oprawa: Miękka
Waga: 0.46 kg

Recenzje: $800 Million Pill The Truth behind the Cost of New Drugs - Merrill Goozner, M Goozner