Joe Nocera Tells Why We Should Not Use Patent Monopolies to Finance Drug Research

Actually he never mentioned patent support for drug research. However, his column did a good job of showing the waste and corruption that result from the monopoly rents created by patent monopolies.

In this case, the drug Avastin was determined to be ineffective as a treatment for breast cancer by the food and drug administration. Nonetheless, many insurers are likely to continue to pay for the $90,000 a year treatment. This is in part driven by the views of researchers who are on payrolls...