Imagine the People Deciding on the Safety of Drugs Didn't Have a Financial Stake in the Outcome

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The NYT continues its excellent coverage of abuses in the prescription drug industry. It pointed out that several doctors questioned whether a new study by GlaxoSmithKline, that was supposed to demonstrate the safety of one its diabetes drugs, in fact showed that the study was safe. It's great that the NYT has devoted so much of its resources to uncovering efforts by the drug industry to mislead the public about the safety and effectiveness of its drugs. However, it would be even better if it devoted attention to the nature of the patent system that provides such enormous incentives for such abuses. There are alternative methods for financing prescription drug development. Until we adopt an alternative model, we can expect to see many more pieces exposing the abuses of the current one.

--Dean Baker

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