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Comment by kbatten | Hacker News Reader

Alternatively India has a lot of smart people and they can develop drugs if US companies don't. How much are US companies subsidized by both money and Indian scientists, and how would one determine this? Frankly I'm not sure where to go to find out the exact facts. I think you are right, but I'm not so sure anymore.

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Here's a great article about how Russia has developed a lot of useful drugs that are largely ignored in the west:

http://slatestarcodex.com/2014/08/16/an-iron-curtain-has-des...

Another example: The French developed Tianeptine[1] and it's as effective as SSRIs as an anti-depressant, with fewer side effects, but it's largely unknown in the U.S.

Point being, even if they did develop great drugs, you'd never hear about them.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tianeptine

Another example, $1 cure for lung cancer developed by Cuba with 25+ years of peer reviewed hard science backing it

http://www.wakingtimes.com/2015/09/29/cuba-developed-a-1-lun...

Realize that "lung cancer" is simply an umbrella term for many diseases which can be quite different from each other. So which one does this supposedly cure?

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2015/05/28/cuba-lung-cancer-vac...

http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/02/19/cuba.cancer.vaccine/ind...

> A Phase II trial from 2008 showed lung cancer patients who received the vaccine lived an average of four to six months longer than those who didn’t.

> CimaVax EGF does not prevent or cure lung cancer. It is a therapeutic vaccine which stimulates the patient's body to make an antibody against the epidermal growth factor (EGF), which is a key driver causing lung cancer cells to grow.

Thanks for sharing, I had never heard of this, but to call it a "$1 cure for lung cancer" is a bit misleading.

FWIW, a Russian psychiatrist responded to that article, claiming the Russian drugs are ineffective, and the Russian studies are flawed or corrupted: https://www.reddit.com/r/Psychiatry/comments/2dsp2c/an_iron_...

Well, if blog posts are the currency of credibility one can get away with many things. The allegation may well be correct, but for the purpose of the discussion and level playing field, lets stick to more traditional sources of information and claims.

BTW I see that you got downvoted. Lest you think so, it wasn't me.

After the meth problem in america became rampant (and is still a huge problem in many places) it was hard to get pseudoephedrine so instead there were many drugs that just got me high (in a non fun way) but didn't actually clear my sinuses. Obviously this is anecdote but I think it is not fair to call out other countries without proof.

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