You know what else will drive up the costs? Running bad trial after bad trial after bad trial, burying the results, and only publishing if and when you finally come up with something positive.
Not only does this provide a dangerously (murderously?) distorted view of the compound in question, it means patients (read: victims) will be paying exponentially more for their "treatments".
It's an increasingly sordid business, and not one that can be defended in good conscience. As the Economist notes in its current review of "Bad Pharma" "This is a book that deserves to be widely read, because anyone who does read it cannot help feeling both uncomfortable and angry."
Not only does this provide a dangerously (murderously?) distorted view of the compound in question, it means patients (read: victims) will be paying exponentially more for their "treatments".
It's an increasingly sordid business, and not one that can be defended in good conscience. As the Economist notes in its current review of "Bad Pharma" "This is a book that deserves to be widely read, because anyone who does read it cannot help feeling both uncomfortable and angry."
http://www.economist.com/node/21563689