Well you've painted that with a very broad brush. So drugs that reduce cholesterol by 50%, lower blood pressure or reduce the halucinations of schizophrenia are worthless? There are plenty of drugs that extend life and improve the quality of life. What about chemotherapy? Worthless? I have my own personal experiences to draw from, including my wife's battle with breast cancer, which she has won...and my high blood pressure, which is being treated very nicely.
Sure the drug companies make profits, that's what they are in business for. What company would exist if they didn't make profits? Do you know what the budgets are for research? My company spends $7.9 billion a year. Do you know how long it takes to develop a drug? More than 10 years from discovery to the market. You want to talk about prices? Have you heard that pharmacies mark up the prices of some generic drugs up to 2000%? Not one penny of that goes to the drug companies.
I work for a large drug company, doing research in psychotherapeutics. I hope that what I do can make a breakthrough to better treat people who are suffering from debilitating diseases, not line my own pockets. It's an incredibly difficult job, with more failures than advances. The people who do the research really want to help and most feel this is a noble endeavor. But unfortunately, more often we are treated as if we're big tobacco...and in my opinion, that's just sad.