Friday, January 21, 2011
Agents or self interested actors?
We talked about politicians as agents or actors yesterday in class. Another illustration of the problem can be seen in medical research. Are scientists disinterested pursuers of truth or are they often co-opted by the for-profits who often fund their research? Here is an interesting piece on the dilemma. What do you think?
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Scientists are always pursuing new ways to cure the body, both in private and public sectors. Yet, like all other individuals, some act in a rational way to help increase their own profits. I would think that if this matter was presented to a doctor working with the generic drug, hopefully he is not as selfish as almost all people are when it comes to profits and just publish the article and help save lives. It just seems like if he can find the helpful effects of the drug, someone else in a more lucrative environment will do so too, and sell it to physicians all over the country at high rates. In the end, everyone will soon reap the benefits of the drug, but some will have to pay large amounts for it. It is just the way of the world.
ReplyDeleteI don't know if I fully understands the article or the situation which the author stated, but it seems to me that if a doctor is presented with an opportunity to either help people and gain a more positive reputation or to help people and make a lot of money, the rational actor would aim to receive the profit. Recognition sounds good, but like stated in the article, there are thousands of articles out there in plenty of respectible magazines, but is that little recognition worth more than a couple thousand dollars? How much money would it take for you to pass on potentially national or world-wide recgonition?
ReplyDeleteYou cannot fault an individual to want to earn fame and generous compensation in their career. I am cynical in that I believe that there are no true agents and only self interested actors. Medical and drug companies have the strongest lobbies, and massive budgets used to fund studies to promote their products. Most of the medical research that is conducted in this country is funded by drug companies, not neutral third parties.
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