Not enough. Hence research skews towards drugs that treat chronic conditions (repeat customers), not cures.

Close…in the US model it is the insurance companies that drive the higher prices. US health spend per capita is 2x the average for developed world, but with basically average health outcomes. Agree it should only ever be non-profit

Suspect that (if enforceable) would lead to pharma cos keeping their prices up and simply withdrawing from markets that can’t afford them. Doesn’t really help anyone.

Development costs are huge- the regulatory burden is (rightly) immense. Put these up-front costs in front of a private co. and get exactly what you expect in terms of profit life-cycle. Government-funded R&D is the only way IMHO to escape this shitshow. COVID gave us a glimpse of what is possible

And insurance companies would no longer exist, at least not in their current form

The way USA pays for healthcare is uniquely terrible (for normal citizens although it works great for insurance companies), and our (UK) NHS is far from perfect, but always has to negotiate the best possible price. In a fairer world USA would pay about half what they do, we would pay a bit more

I’m not suggesting that pharma companies are struggling to make ends meet (they’re not) but you have to factor in the cost of development ($1B-$2B, including failed candidates) and the relatively brief window of exclusivity before the patent expires and generics appear. The profit window is small

I love music, but have demonstrated, over the decades, a comprehensive inability to create it. Often the exact music I want to listen to doesn’t exist, or exists only for one or two tracks. The AI argument in that case feels tempting, but I still want to know I’m listening to actual people

The irony is, if he somehow did manage to create a genuine superintelligence it would probably conclude that after AIDS and malaria, the worst things on earth are billionaires. Then he’d have to turn it off and lie that it hadn’t worked

I actually thought they’d sorted moths, but I googled it and you’re right, they haven’t

Always been a bit wary of Camden myself, but then again if they can beat Wales in a couple of weeks time….

Nobody did. But millions of Americans voted for the people who then acquiesced to (or in some cases actively pushed) his rise to power. And a depressingly large contingent of that electorate still think “owning the libs” is more important than having a functioning democracy

They’ve already died inside, they just haven’t accepted it yet. As long as they keep the constant supply of drugs, money and chaos, maybe they can keep putting it off…

Just a warning shot over their heads

It’s hard to imagine what, if any, Kompromat would dent the orange one just now. Unless it’s a video of him being shit at golf….

I have to Come Home to this?

I think hatred is a much simpler emotion to foster than love. If the object of your hate appears to do good things, it’s easy to ignore; if the object of your love does bad, it’s harder to reconcile.

Well I’m reading this and replying to it on BlueSky. So…… maybe

Also the lower case b

I can’t sing to save my life. I sang that, though