Cure Something

Last year, more than $95 billion was spent on medical research in the United States. It is predicted that that figure will climb to 100 billion by next year. If you do an Internet search, trying to find out the last disease that was cured, surprisingly, there are no results. The possible exception to this is smallpox. The money seems to be going into drug research, which when successful has the outcome of turning lethal diseases into chronic diseases that can be managed with these new costly drugs.

So money is being made by managing disease, rather than curing it. You can't make money on a disease that has been wiped out. Would a dentist want a cure for tooth decay to be discovered? I think not. There would be no new golf clubs in that scenario.

I worked for a medical research division of a large nonprofit HMO for 22 years. This company was not driven by stockholder demands, and I believe it adhered to high ethical standards. But did they cure anything in the 22 years I worked there? NO! What they did do was link disease to behavior. In other words, it's the patient's fault. You smoke too much You eat too much fat. You don't eat enough vegetables. you drink too much alcohol. Too much coffee will cause you harm. The message was clear: Patient cure yourself! Eat some broccoli and call me in the morning. If you are sick it's your fault. If your health behavior is impeccable we will blame your genetic background. Again, it's your fault, or, if not your fault, your parents or your grandparents.

When I was six years old I heard a very sad story about a young boy of my age dying from cancer. I am now 60 years old, and I continue to hear these sad stories. My mother died of cancer. My father died of heart disease. So the slogan "race for the cure" somehow seems to be a misnomer. Maybe, "racing for better drugs" would be more accurate.

Isn't there just one person out there who could actually cure something?