I an very excited that there are actually some new antibiotics in the pipeline. Even better some of these are showing great efficacy against the resistant MRSA and other severe pathogens. Several teams of American researchers have discovered this whole new class of antibiotics as well as a bilological way to mass produce them. The only problem is that they are leaving the US to do it.
Because of the risk of litigation and the enormous costs to get these medication on the market no company based in the US wants any part of them. In fact, to limit liability, it looks like these will be made by smaller comanies located off shore in countries with better liability protection. Further, these drugs will be available in those countries long before they will be here due to all the FDA regulations.
In an even bigger twist. At least one of the new antibiotics will be made in Canada but will be exported and not used domestically. Further, it will be exported though a small Ltd. export company with little or no assets to further decrease liability exposure. Production is also expected to begin in several other countries to decrease taxes.
So, we have potentially life saving medications that are developed in the US but because liability, taxes and regulations it is better to leave the US with them.
Somehow I doubt that that we will see a solution to our regulation, taxation, litigation stifling of Amercian Ingenuity soon. In the meantime, I wonder if instead of calling these "new antibiotics", they could just call them "Nutritional Supplements". That way we could just order them from an infomercial to help save our patients?
1 comment:
Wow..That is GREAT news!
Then of course the rest of it is depressing, frustrating and just wrong!
Isn't there anyway to undo all this? Doesn't anyone that could effect change see this? How do we get back to the pre-litigious society?
I just wish that lawyers and politician recognized the insanity and travesty of this and fought to undo the status quo with medical/pharmaceutical litigation. Obviously we need regulations/laws, etc. because sadly there are the unsavory types that wouldn't think twice about causing harm if they made a profit.. but there has to be a way... to protect the good guys and free them up so it benefits our country directly.
Not just pharmaceutical... but look at all the companies that employ over seas because it's cheaper, etc. I know different topic.
It feels like a spider's web of over regulation.
I have heard of pharma companies trying to squelch the sale of herbs that work, so said herbs/supplements don't interfere with the sale of their drugs touted as doing the same. And the herbs would be healthier.
I've heard that down in the Amazon rain forests there have been discoveries that looked promising for the cure of cancer, but the pharma companies interfered. I do not know if any of that is true though.
I have seen some pretty nasty things in the ED...but it's the gross derm things that cause my stomach want to flip flop. Oh and an epistaxis stringy blood clot. But especially derm. Ugh!
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