Re: resurrectionist...

i can chime in here as i once did a stint in the research dept. of a major pharm. it was my last attempt to squeeze myself into the corporate world - thank goddess i didn't fit.

many many researchers sincerely want to add something positive to medicine. of course there are the ones also who are all ego - very arrogant - think they are a gift to us all, etc. but for the most part, at least where i was, the scientists seemed like very genuine folks - sometimes a little lost in their own nebula of thought - but for the most part good people. now, having said that, no matter how passionate about helping humanity they are it is the bean counters who make the calls about what gets researched & what does not. much in the same way insurance co's have an effect on proceedures & protocols doctors utilize.

in fact, i remember the year when the bean counters decided cancer research was not profitable enough & almost cut it completely! of course, the researchers raised hell so it was not done away with. but make no mistake about it - pharmaceutical co.'s are there for one reason to make $$$$$ - not to improve the human condition. and in the end it's MBA's not PhD's who make the important decisions. one researcher in particular had done some very promising work with plants . . . of course he did all of this on his own time as the company was not interested in compounds they could not patent.

so you see business men/women seem to have the market share of control when it comes to how our society runs. and let's face it, we've all been complicit in the corporatocracy of the world; so instead of blaming one group or another we should just open our eyes to what is going on and choose differently. or as ani difranco puts it 'we all need to come clean & relax'. Tweet