Sawbones: Patents vs. Life-Saving Drugs

It’s one of our favorite kinds of episodes, making use of Dr. Sydnee’s expertise and Justin’s street smarts: medical questions! Why do we fart? How long is the digestive tract? Why are all minor mouth injuries so awful? Does REM “detoxify” the brain? And am I experiencing nightma ...  Show more

The food has been going wild lately, and none more in the headlines this second than cyclospora parasite which is causing an outbreak of . . . intense gastrointestinal distress. Dr. Sydnee and Justin talk about the history of parasitic illnesses and what to know about the outbrea ...  Show more

If you had a rare disease and the only drug that could help you suddenly shot up in price how would you feel? What if your health service or insurer decided it was too expensive and they wouldn’t fund it any more? This is the problem facing some patients in the Netherlands.In ord ...  Show more

Between 2006 and 2016, the number of drug patents granted in the United States doubled -- but not because there was an explosion in invention or innovation. Drug companies have learned how to game the system, accumulating patents not for new medicines but for small changes to exi ...  Show more

In the first of two episodes this week, we're taking a deep dive into the pharmaceutical industry. How much does the medication you take actually cost? What if a company came along and bought the rights to a particular drug and started charging double, triple, or even 10,000 time ...  Show more

It's hard to put a value on a human life. When you're well, perhaps you don't think about it. But if you're ill, getting access to the right drugs, whatever the cost, is a priority. But the NHS does not have a bottomless pit of money. And some medicines are judged too expensive t ...  Show more