Comments on: UK vs US Spending On Healthcare Research http://really.zonky.org/?p=556 Personal site for rants by Mike Meredith. Tue, 07 Sep 2010 10:39:04 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=abc By: mike http://really.zonky.org/?p=556&cpage=1#comment-120 mike Tue, 27 Oct 2009 12:40:41 +0000 http://really.zonky.org/?p=556#comment-120 Indeed. Comparing how much the US and the UK spends on medical research in proper depth is something that can't be done in a blog entry by someone who doesn't have more than an hour or two to spend on Googling. In addition to the fact you've mentioned, there's also :- * Currency fluctuations over the last two years have made the UK's investment look less than it is. * Some of the new drugs developed and released by 'US' companies are in fact developed (at least partially) overseas. As a non-health example of the later, many people think that the (Winchester) hard drive was invented by a US company (IBM). Well it was certainly IBM, but I've visited the lab where much of the development was carried out - a small place just outside Winchester, UK! Indeed. Comparing how much the US and the UK spends on medical research in proper depth is something that can’t be done in a blog entry by someone who doesn’t have more than an hour or two to spend on Googling. In addition to the fact you’ve mentioned, there’s also :-

* Currency fluctuations over the last two years have made the UK’s investment look less than it is.
* Some of the new drugs developed and released by ‘US’ companies are in fact developed (at least partially) overseas.

As a non-health example of the later, many people think that the (Winchester) hard drive was invented by a US company (IBM). Well it was certainly IBM, but I’ve visited the lab where much of the development was carried out – a small place just outside Winchester, UK!

]]> By: Research Supremacy Myth Part Deux « The Convalescing Orphan http://really.zonky.org/?p=556&cpage=1#comment-119 Research Supremacy Myth Part Deux « The Convalescing Orphan Tue, 27 Oct 2009 11:36:46 +0000 http://really.zonky.org/?p=556#comment-119 [...] This article is a great snapshot. Take the comparisons made, and look at the cost of things not specified. In the UK, the cost of caring for the patient while doing research is covered. All those supplies are already paid for. The researcher is paid for. Here, not so much. Insurance might cover it, except the vast majority of policies don’t cover research. The research might be funded (see above). You might be a millionaire and pay for your research experience yourself. So you really have to increase UK research expenditures to include the cost of merely caring for the patient who is being studied. I imagine that might well close the gap, or narrow it significantly. [...] [...] This article is a great snapshot. Take the comparisons made, and look at the cost of things not specified. In the UK, the cost of caring for the patient while doing research is covered. All those supplies are already paid for. The researcher is paid for. Here, not so much. Insurance might cover it, except the vast majority of policies don’t cover research. The research might be funded (see above). You might be a millionaire and pay for your research experience yourself. So you really have to increase UK research expenditures to include the cost of merely caring for the patient who is being studied. I imagine that might well close the gap, or narrow it significantly. [...]

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