I should point out that I think there are lots of good honest scientist at the FDA and in big pharma. Lots of very beneficial and life saving drugs have come out over the years.

It is the corruption and influence peddling and revolving door at the top decision making process that bothers me. A glaring example is Billy Tauzin. He was chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee. He announced he was going to resign from Congress. As soon as the Part D Medicare prescription drug bill was passed he resigned and became the top lobbyist for big pharma's trade association. Technically they couldn't call him a lobbyist but he was the top dog for big bucks. Big insurance and big pharma had big influence on that bill. For instance it was stipulated that medicare could not negotiate discount prices on prescription drugs like the VA does. They made sure there was no importation of drugs from Canada.

In a brighter note there have been and are lots of small bio tech companies that patent things and do basic research and come up with beneficial new innovative things. Often they sell out to big pharma or partner with them in order to get approval and marketing. They just don't have the money.

The latest one is a drug called Sovaldi for Hepatitis C by Gilead Sciences in the Bay Area of CA. It has a very high success rate for curing hep C. The word cure has never been used with hep C before. I don't know who owns them or who they are partnered with. There have been lots of bio tech start ups in the Bay Area and in other places. The problem is Gilead wants 80,000 bucks for a course of treatment. Highway robbery. But if you are waiting for a liver and a liver transplant cost 200,000 it may work out. I don't know how insurance companies look at it or if they will cover it. I would think they have priced themselves out of the market but they have record sales.

infohep - Hepatitis C treatment factsheet: Sofosbuvir (<i>Sovaldi</i>)

There will be lots of innovative drugs and treatments coming from the university and bio tech research community in coming years. Hopefully for mental health. It seems to me big pharma has not been in the antidepressant or anti anxiety game for many years. There have been some new antidepressants but I am wiling to bet they started at small companies and then partnered.