@ChadleyDudebro @TrevorGoodchild @EdBoatConnoisseur @sickburnbro the pharmaceutical industry is also a bit of a clusterfuck
a lot of decent stuff should be out of patent and therefore generic and cheap, but pharma companies "improve" them and get a new patent, and they do a lot of work to get doctors to prescribe the new-and-improved stuff, so what should be a few cents per pill are now $2
the flip side of this is fucked too
a lot of good work goes into pharma research, but the patents go into effect before testing, which can take years. the patent is no bueno after 20 years, and it takes 5-10 years of testing to get approval, so you have to rape patients in order to make back the cost of R&D
because of this, boutique diseases might get some research, but to pay for it it goes into some sketch territory
pharma can actually do a lot of good. it can file off some of the genetic burrs that affect people, but it's expensive alchemy
IMO pharma companies should not be allowed to sell publicly traded shares, it introduces too many perverse incentives