While modern medicine has come a long way, many diseases still have no cure. It's not because medical experts have given up on developing treatment options. The real challenge lies in the barriers afflicting our healthcare system. These barriers directly drain vital resources, extend research and development timelines, and force medical innovators to focus on fighting legal battles instead of developing life-saving medicines and treatments.
The impact on medical innovation is clear, with litigation targeting companies at the forefront of medical advancement. When these companies face continuous legal challenges, they must redirect resources away from research and development and toward defending themselves in court. As companies divert resources to handle litigation, fewer resources are available to devote to innovation, causing more companies to pull out of the research market altogether.
This diminishing investment or delay in research stifles the development of new cures and treatments, doing a disservice to those at the receiving end of their efforts – patients. When drugmakers shift their focus toward the courtroom, they spend less time and funds developing groundbreaking treatments. It takes 15 years and 2.6 billion dollars to discover, develop, and bring a drug market.
These treatments are life-changing for the nearly 129 million Americans living with chronic diseases, such as cancer, diabetes, or heart disease. Anyone who has been diagnosed with a serious illness knows that the first or second treatment may not always work as well as our doctors hope. This is why we must have multiple medicines available to divert to if medical professionals need to recommend an alternative course of action for treatment.
It’s critical that we have treatment options to choose from and access to the most advanced ones that are available in the drug pipeline. Imagine if your child was diagnosed with a rare disease—but that an effective treatment was available and a cure was on the way. This is the type of medical innovation that we should strive for; however, numerous challenges including costly clinical trials in small populations and a small market for specific treatments hinders R&D.
Yet another obstacle adds to the R&D roadblock that could be fixed: the legal system. Lawyers who care more about their payout from lawsuits against innovators do a disservice to patients and those they claim to represent. Instead of prioritizing patient care and access to innovative treatments, these legal battles often become profit-driven pursuits that block progress. This focus on financial gain over authentic concern for health outcomes strains the integrity of the healthcare system. Just look at the example of recent lawsuits killing the U.S.-based market for infant formula, a sector that was already hit hard by shortages during the pandemic.
What’s even worse is that many of the cases are based on faulty and questionable evidence. 2023 was a record-breaking year, with over 10,000 research papers being retracted due to validity concerns. This makes you question just how many cases are brought to the courtroom that may be relying on ‘junk science.’ While undeniably a blemish on our justice system, these cases also have significant ramifications for the healthcare system and patients downstream from its innovation.
Americans need a healthcare system that puts patients first and offers diverse treatment alternatives. Illnesses are challenging and expensive and take a huge toll on not just patients but their families, too. Health scares take a toll both physically and mentally. According to the CDC, more than half of people in the U.S. have at least one major chronic disease and ten percent of Americans have a rare disease. People cannot afford a healthcare system that limits their choices when their quality of life is severely impacted. They want the freedom to select treatments that align with their needs. Not every treatment is a walk in the park, but patients and their doctors can be better empowered, if there are multiple treatment options, to decide their own course for a better and healthier life.
The cost of litigation affects everyone. However, addressing the litigation barriers that limit access to care is imperative for genuinely serving patients and ensuring a robust healthcare system. We need regulations designed to protect innovation within health care. These reforms will better guarantee that patients receive the medical attention and treatments they deserve and are entitled to. Everyone should have fair access to the best medical treatments, but the endless obstacles surrounding our healthcare system jeopardize this ideal.
Kasia Mulligan is the national spokesperson for Patients Come First, a consumer-patient advocacy organization.
