# Why are drugs so hard to make and take so long to come out on the market? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 17, 2014, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-drugs-so-hard-to-make-and-take-so-long-to-come-out-on-the-market/698700 "2014-09-17T01:37:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2014, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-drugs-so-hard-to-make-and-take-so-long-to-come-out-on-the-market/698700/41 "2014-10-05T20:42:08Z")
Haven’t read the rest since I saw some gleam of knives, apologies if these two cents have already been around. Once you have the molecule, from a chemical point of view you have several difficulties: 1. Even molecules which look relatively simple can be extremely difficult to make. For example, cooking aspirin (as opposed to extracting it) required the invention of a whole new technology - there is a step which has to be done in three stages because if you try it in one you end up with the wrong molecule. 2. Formulation does make a difference; getting the right formulation, figuring out what’s the best form to deliver a particular active product or mixture, takes years by itself. Sometimes slow-acting is better, sometimes fast-acting is. Will a patch work, or not? Will a pill work but produce stomach problems? Will an inhaler be too fast? You don’t just test the active principle or principles, but specific formulations. 3. You need extremely high purity at all stages. Compared with the conditions expected in a pharmaceutical factory, or in a chemical factory making ingredients for pharma, our kitchens are sewers. Figuring out “this substance may be good for condition X” is only the first step of many - and then, once you do have your formulation working and approved, the chemistry itself can be a total bitch. One of my jobs involved “optimizing a novel synthesis” for a product which my boss wanted to use as the base for some novel medications: his original recipe took a week and required liquid nitrogen. Mine took two or three days (three stages lasting 2, 8 and 6 hours) and a salt-ice bath. Thankfully my boss wanted those changes, but if his original recipe had been the one sent to the factories, there might have been strong resistance to notions that “making this in conditions which are cheaper and less dangerous may actually work better”. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2014, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-drugs-so-hard-to-make-and-take-so-long-to-come-out-on-the-market/698700/42 "2014-10-05T21:28:28Z")
It seems like it should be pretty easy All you have to do is find diseases that don’t have a cure, and then find something that cures it! ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2014, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-drugs-so-hard-to-make-and-take-so-long-to-come-out-on-the-market/698700/43 "2014-10-06T01:25:14Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > Figuring out “this substance may be good for condition X” is only the first step of many - and then, once you do have your formulation working and approved, the chemistry itself can be a total bitch. One of my jobs involved “optimizing a novel synthesis” for a product which my boss wanted to use as the base for some novel medications: his original recipe took a week and required liquid nitrogen. Mine took two or three days (three stages lasting 2, 8 and 6 hours) and a salt-ice bath. Thankfully my boss wanted those changes, but if his original recipe had been the one sent to the factories, there might have been strong resistance to notions that “making this in conditions which are cheaper and less dangerous may actually work better”. Out of curiosity, was this liquid nitrogen as part of a cryogenic bath or straight liquid nitrogen to get -196 C? Because while cryo conditions on scale suck, at least some plants have the equipment to go, say, -80. (Agreed that -20 C or so, which I assume is what you got with salt/ice, is much more feasible on scale.) I’ve never heard of a plant scale reaction that uses straight nitrogen-cooled conditions. For that matter, even on small scale I’d think a decent chiller running Syltherm or something would be a better option. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2014, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-drugs-so-hard-to-make-and-take-so-long-to-come-out-on-the-market/698700/44 "2014-10-06T05:03:37Z")
Straight liquid nitrogen used as a cryogenic bath. The boss poured one-handed from the “bottle” (actually a tank about 1m wide), but he was a bear of a man; my first priority was getting rid of that _thing_. CO2 on acetone actually worked better, ice-salt turned out to work best. The reaction was highly exothermic and released N2(g), so I didn’t want to try running it at room temperature without having the means to stop it if it became runaway. ---
**Author:** ![sweat209](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9fc348/32.png) [@sweat209](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sweat209)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2014, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-drugs-so-hard-to-make-and-take-so-long-to-come-out-on-the-market/698700/45 "2014-10-14T23:52:30Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > No, it’s not. It is, however, leaps and bounds better than it used to be. And it continues to get better each year. Some problems are hard. > > Are you complaining that some diseases suck? Because no one is going to argue with you. > > **Are you complaining that medical research isn’t moving fast enough? It’s not clear how fast you think research should be advancing and what steps you think should be happening. Do you care to offer some suggestions?** > > Are you complaining that there is waste, mismanagement, and poor choices in medical research? I don’t think you’d get a major argument that some of that exists, just like it does in every human project. > > Exactly what are you concerned about? You haven’t articulated what the problem is that you’re trying to solve, or what you think is wrong. I think public things that rate of medical research slow when compare list over 100 years and 50 years if you want to count modern medicine like liver failure , kidney failure ,Parkinson ,diabetes ,Multiple sclerosis ( MS) neuron disease ,stroke patients ,spinal cord injury and autoimmune disease and cancer. No cure and nothing we can do. ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2014, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-drugs-so-hard-to-make-and-take-so-long-to-come-out-on-the-market/698700/46 "2014-10-15T00:19:33Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > Straight liquid nitrogen used as a cryogenic bath. The boss poured one-handed from the “bottle” (actually a tank about 1m wide), but he was a bear of a man; my first priority was getting rid of that _thing_. CO2 on acetone actually worked better, ice-salt turned out to work best. The reaction was highly exothermic and released N2(g), so I didn’t want to try running it at room temperature without having the means to stop it if it became runaway. Somehow, running a reaction using conditions where an exotherm with gas release means boiling your cooling bath and even more gas release doesn’t seem that wise. Especially if there was the possibility of a latent exotherm after the initial one. This came from a medicinal chemist, didn’t it? ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2014, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-drugs-so-hard-to-make-and-take-so-long-to-come-out-on-the-market/698700/47 "2014-10-15T02:01:19Z")
> [@sweat209](#): > > I think public things that rate of medical research slow when compare list over 100 years and 50 years if you want to count modern medicine like liver failure , kidney failure ,Parkinson ,diabetes ,Multiple sclerosis ( MS) neuron disease ,stroke patients ,spinal cord injury and autoimmune disease and cancer. No cure and nothing we can do. There are significant improvements in treatments for all the diseases you list. None of the treatments are perfect but people live longer and with better quality of life with all those diseases. We know some things are hard to fix. Progress continues to be made every year. And you haven’t answered my question. What do you think we should be doing differently or we are not doing? Because if all you want to do is complain that diseases are hard to solve, perhaps you might want to start a thread in the BBQ pit. ---
**Author:** ![furt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/439d5e/32.png) [@furt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furt)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2014, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-drugs-so-hard-to-make-and-take-so-long-to-come-out-on-the-market/698700/48 "2014-10-15T02:32:21Z")
> [@sweat209](#): > > I think public things that rate of medical research slow when compare list over 100 years and 50 years if you want to count modern medicine like liver failure , kidney failure ,Parkinson ,diabetes ,Multiple sclerosis ( MS) neuron disease ,stroke patients ,spinal cord injury and autoimmune disease and cancer. No cure and nothing we can do. Dude, if you want people to take you seriously, learn to use punctuation correctly and make at least an effort at coherent English. ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2014, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-drugs-so-hard-to-make-and-take-so-long-to-come-out-on-the-market/698700/49 "2014-10-15T15:22:51Z")
> [@sweat209](#): > > I think public things that rate of medical research slow when compare list over 100 years and 50 years if you want to count modern medicine like liver failure , kidney failure ,Parkinson ,diabetes ,Multiple sclerosis ( MS) neuron disease ,stroke patients ,spinal cord injury and autoimmune disease and cancer. No cure and nothing we can do. Well, for the N-th time: > [@Great\_Antibob](#): > > Incidentally, **sweat209** , the same reasons, more or less, apply to the “stagnating technology” thread you started a while back. > > Innovation in medicine is almost guaranteed to occur, but it is not the case we can predict or even absolutely specify the pace or direction of such innovation. Still true nearly 30 posts and a month later: innovation in medicine occurs. It almost always occurs differently from the way you envisioned it would or that it “should”. The thesis of this thread is the medical equivalent of “Why don’t we have flying cars yet?” or “When are we going to have economically viable fusion energy?” all while ignoring a large number of other technologies that have been brought to bear (last 50 years - MRI, medical use of lasers, EEG, nanomaterials for drug delivery, robotic aid in surgery, etc - all fairly major innovations). ---
**Author:** ![sweat209](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9fc348/32.png) [@sweat209](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sweat209)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2014, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-drugs-so-hard-to-make-and-take-so-long-to-come-out-on-the-market/698700/50 "2014-10-15T21:08:33Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > There are significant improvements in treatments for all the diseases you list. None of the treatments are perfect but people live longer and with better quality of life with all those diseases. We know some things are hard to fix. Progress continues to be made every year. > > And you haven’t answered my question. What do you think we should be doing differently or we are not doing? Because if all you want to do is complain that diseases are hard to solve, perhaps you might want to start a thread in the BBQ pit. > [@](#): > > Are you complaining that medical research isn’t moving fast enough? It’s not clear how fast you think research should be advancing and what steps you think should be happening. Do you care to offer some suggestions? I think at the very least cure for one disease every 10 years or 15 years.But that is not the case at all. There has not been cure for any disease in past 20 years. I know we will not have cure for these things in 20 years from now at all!! But I think the public thinks there will be cure for most of these things by year 2050.But for that to be true there would have to be cure for a disease every 10 years or 15 years. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2014, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-drugs-so-hard-to-make-and-take-so-long-to-come-out-on-the-market/698700/51 "2014-10-15T21:29:00Z")
> [@sweat209](#): > > I think at the very least cure for one disease every 10 years or 15 years.But that is not the case at all. What do you base this expectation on? What makes you think that’s possible? > [@sweat209](#): > > There has not been cure for any disease in past 20 years. Simply not true. We’ve effectively moved AIDS from a death sentence to a manageable but still serious condition. We have new vaccines introduced in the past 20 years. We have highly successful treatments for all sorts of cancers that we only dreamed of 20 years ago. Survival rates are increasing every year. > **[Breast cancer survival statistics](https://www.cancerresearchuk.org/health-professional/cancer-statistics/statistics-by-cancer-type/breast-cancer/survival)** > > The latest breast cancer survival statistics for the UK for Health Professionals. See data for age, trends over time, stage at diagnosis and more. > **[Testicular cancer survival statistics](https://www.cancerresearchuk.org/health-professional/cancer-statistics/statistics-by-cancer-type/testicular-cancer/survival)** > > The latest testicular cancer survival statistics for the UK for Health Professionals. See data for age, trends over time, stage at diagnosis and more. > **[Lung cancer survival statistics](https://www.cancerresearchuk.org/health-professional/cancer-statistics/statistics-by-cancer-type/lung-cancer/survival)** > > The latest lung cancer survival statistics for the UK for Health Professionals. See data for sex, age, trends over time and more. Some aren’t great, such as the 10 year survival rate for long cancer, but note that they all are improving and have been doing so for the past 30 years. > [@sweat209](#): > > I know we will not have cure for these things in 20 years from now at all!! But I think the public thinks there will be cure for most of these things by year 2050.But for that to be true there would have to be cure for a disease every 10 years or 15 years. The public is misinformed. You were misinformed. Your expectations appear to be unrealistic and uninformed. ---
**Author:** ![sweat209](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9fc348/32.png) [@sweat209](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sweat209)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2014, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-drugs-so-hard-to-make-and-take-so-long-to-come-out-on-the-market/698700/52 "2014-10-15T21:56:43Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > What do you base this expectation on? What makes you think that’s possible? > Simply not true. We’ve effectively moved AIDS from a death sentence to a manageable but still serious condition. We have new vaccines introduced in the past 20 years. We have highly successful treatments for all sorts of cancers that we only dreamed of 20 years ago. Survival rates are increasing every year. > > [http://www.cancerresearchuk.org/cancer-info/cancerstats/types/breast/survival/breast-cancer-survival-statistics#Trends](http://www.cancerresearchuk.org/cancer-info/cancerstats/types/breast/survival/breast-cancer-survival-statistics#Trends) > [Testicular cancer survival statistics | Cancer Research UK](http://www.cancerresearchuk.org/cancer-info/cancerstats/types/testis/survival/) > [Lung cancer survival statistics | Cancer Research UK](http://www.cancerresearchuk.org/cancer-info/cancerstats/types/lung/survival/#one) > > Some aren’t great, such as the 10 year survival rate for long cancer, but note that they all are improving and have been doing so for the past 30 years. > The public is misinformed. You were misinformed. Your expectations appear to be unrealistic and uninformed. There are thousands of disease and things can go wrong with the body. The main diseases that get talk about a lot are. -liver failure -kidney failure -Parkinson -spinal cord injury -diabetes -stroke patients -Multiple sclerosis -neuron disease -autoimmune disease and MS If there was cure for one disease every 10 years it would take 90 years for all 9 disease above that is very slow. > [@](#): > > We have highly successful treatments for all sorts of cancers that we only dreamed of 20 years ago. Survival rates are increasing every year. > > [http://www.cancerresearchuk.org/cancer-info/cancerstats/types/breast/survival/breast-cancer-survival-statistics#Trends](http://www.cancerresearchuk.org/cancer-info/cancerstats/types/breast/survival/breast-cancer-survival-statistics#Trends) > [Testicular cancer survival statistics | Cancer Research UK](http://www.cancerresearchuk.org/cancer-info/cancerstats/types/testis/survival/) > [Lung cancer survival statistics | Cancer Research UK](http://www.cancerresearchuk.org/cancer-info/cancerstats/types/lung/survival/#one) Can you say base on the successful treatments for all sorts of cancers that by year 2050 the 10 year survival rate for cancer will be close to 100% ---
**Author:** ![sweat209](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9fc348/32.png) [@sweat209](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sweat209)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2014, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-drugs-so-hard-to-make-and-take-so-long-to-come-out-on-the-market/698700/53 "2014-10-15T22:04:36Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > [http://www.cancerresearchuk.org/cancer-info/cancerstats/types/breast/survival/breast-cancer-survival-statistics#Trends](http://www.cancerresearchuk.org/cancer-info/cancerstats/types/breast/survival/breast-cancer-survival-statistics#Trends) > [Testicular cancer survival statistics | Cancer Research UK](http://www.cancerresearchuk.org/cancer-info/cancerstats/types/testis/survival/) > [Lung cancer survival statistics | Cancer Research UK](http://www.cancerresearchuk.org/cancer-info/cancerstats/types/lung/survival/#one) > > Some aren’t great, such as the 10 year survival rate for long cancer, but note that they all are improving and have been doing so for the past 30 years. > The public is misinformed. You were misinformed. Your expectations appear to be unrealistic and uninformed. When you look at Pancreas ,Liver,Bile duct ,Esohagus ,Lungs ,Bronchus ,Stomic ,Mutiple Myeloma ,Brain and Leukemia have very bad survival rate. Survival Rate by Cancer Type [![](http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Yn1crn6Gpak/T476j27qtQI/AAAAAAAAAz4/NhkYXSVFGBs/s1600/Survival+Rate+by+Cancer+Type.png) ](http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Yn1crn6Gpak/T476j27qtQI/AAAAAAAAAz4/NhkYXSVFGBs/s1600/Survival+Rate+by+Cancer+Type.png) Can you say base on the successful treatments for all sorts of cancers these cancer by year 2050 will be close 90%? ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2014, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-drugs-so-hard-to-make-and-take-so-long-to-come-out-on-the-market/698700/54 "2014-10-15T22:07:18Z")
> [@sweat209](#): > > If there was cure for one disease every 10 years it would take 90 years for all 9 disease above that is very slow. So what? There’s no reason to believe it would be fast. > [@sweat209](#): > > Can you say base on the successful treatments for all sorts of cancers that by year 2050 the 10 year survival rate for cancer will be close to 100% No, I can’t. Again, so what? I can say they’ll be better than they are today. You keep throwing out these numbers that mean nothing. What are you looking for from this threads? Some problems are hard to solve - why is that difficult for you to understand? ---
**Author:** ![sweat209](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9fc348/32.png) [@sweat209](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sweat209)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2014, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-drugs-so-hard-to-make-and-take-so-long-to-come-out-on-the-market/698700/55 "2014-10-15T22:13:17Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > So what? There’s no reason to believe it would be fast. > No, I can’t. Again, so what? I can say they’ll be better than they are today. > > You keep throwing out these numbers that mean nothing. What are you looking for from this threads? Some problems are hard to solve - why is that difficult for you to understand? So the numbers I’m throwing out is not realistic and it more realistic numbers are 100 to 150 years out? Because even my numbers I think are slow. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2014, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-drugs-so-hard-to-make-and-take-so-long-to-come-out-on-the-market/698700/56 "2014-10-15T22:20:22Z")
> [@sweat209](#): > > Because even my numbers I think are slow. Not to be blunt, but why should we care what you think? You haven’t demonstrated any significant knowledge about biology or medicine. You just pulled your numbers out of thin air with nothing to back them up. I don’t know what the right numbers _should_ be. It’s entirely possible that we will never have a true cure for all forms of cancer. That sucks but reality is a messy place. ---
**Author:** ![sweat209](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9fc348/32.png) [@sweat209](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sweat209)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2014, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-drugs-so-hard-to-make-and-take-so-long-to-come-out-on-the-market/698700/57 "2014-10-15T22:27:19Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > Not to be blunt, but why should we care what you think? You haven’t demonstrated any significant knowledge about biology or medicine. You just pulled your numbers out of thin air with nothing to back them up. > > I don’t know what the right numbers _should_ be. It’s entirely possible that we will never have a true cure for all forms of cancer. That sucks but reality is a messy place. I’m saying I can see why the public is losing faith with modern medicine and subscribing to conspiracy theories. The public looks around and see progress in lot of areas but when comes to modern medicine does not even see cure for one disease every 10 years or 15 years. Tell me list of 10 disease cured in past 100 years!! Than ask you self why the public is losing faith with modern medicine and subscribing to conspiracy theories. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2014, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-drugs-so-hard-to-make-and-take-so-long-to-come-out-on-the-market/698700/58 "2014-10-15T22:39:48Z")
> [@sweat209](#): > > Tell me list of 10 disease cured in past 100 years!! Than ask you self why the public is losing faith with modern medicine and subscribing to conspiracy theories. Seriously? You don’t think having cures for: [ol] [li]Polio[/li][li]Smallpox[/li][li]Malaria[/li][li]Measles[/li][li]Pertussis[/li][li]Pneumococcal Disease[/li][li]Tetanus[/li][li]Typhoid Fever[/li][li]Yellow Fever[/li][li]Rabies[/li][li]Invasive H. Flu[/li][li]Yaws[/li][li]Onchocerciasis[/li][li]Chicken Pox[/li][/ol] means anything? As to why the public is losing faith in modern medicine when they’ve never had it so good, that’s beyond the scope of this thread. You want to start that discussion, go ahead but I suspect you’ll need a new thread and a better crafted OP. ---
**Author:** ![sweat209](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9fc348/32.png) [@sweat209](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sweat209)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2014, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-drugs-so-hard-to-make-and-take-so-long-to-come-out-on-the-market/698700/59 "2014-10-15T22:59:20Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > Seriously? You don’t think having cures for: > [ol] > [li]Polio[/li][li]Smallpox[/li][li]Malaria[/li][li]Measles[/li][li]Pertussis[/li][li]Pneumococcal Disease[/li][li]Tetanus[/li][li]Typhoid Fever[/li][li]Yellow Fever[/li][li]Rabies[/li][li]Invasive H. Flu[/li][li]Yaws[/li][li]Onchocerciasis[/li][li]Chicken Pox[/li][/ol] > means anything? > > As to why the public is losing faith in modern medicine when they’ve never had it so good, that’s beyond the scope of this thread. You want to start that discussion, go ahead but I suspect you’ll need a new thread and a better crafted OP. These are vaccines and drugs for infectious disease that is other different thing.I don’t know any drug or any thing that heals the body or tells body to heal or stop such a problem. ---
**Author:** ![sweat209](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9fc348/32.png) [@sweat209](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sweat209)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2014, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-drugs-so-hard-to-make-and-take-so-long-to-come-out-on-the-market/698700/60 "2014-10-15T23:03:42Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > Seriously? You don’t think having cures for: > [ol] > [li]Polio[/li][li]Smallpox[/li][li]Malaria[/li][li]Measles[/li][li]Pertussis[/li][li]Pneumococcal Disease[/li][li]Tetanus[/li][li]Typhoid Fever[/li][li]Yellow Fever[/li][li]Rabies[/li][li]Invasive H. Flu[/li][li]Yaws[/li][li]Onchocerciasis[/li][li]Chicken Pox[/li][/ol] > means anything? > > As to why the public is losing faith in modern medicine when they’ve never had it so good, that’s beyond the scope of this thread. You want to start that discussion, go ahead but I suspect you’ll need a new thread and a better crafted OP. Also note if we have no new infectious disease that pops out or mutation science probably will have vaccines and drugs for most all in 50 to 100 years. Medical progress when it comes to infectious disease is lot better than the body going bad like -liver failure -kidney failure -Parkinson -spinal cord injury -diabetes -stroke patients -Multiple sclerosis -neuron disease -autoimmune disease and MS [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-drugs-so-hard-to-make-and-take-so-long-to-come-out-on-the-market/698700.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-drugs-so-hard-to-make-and-take-so-long-to-come-out-on-the-market/698700.md?page=4)