A Cure for Cancer Would Cripple the US Economy

So the University of Alberta has, by all appearances, discovered a cure for cancer, but American drug companies aren’t lining up for it, as there has to be a huge incentive (like profit) to find said cure.

But the issue runs much deeper than that - it permeates the entire US Economy, right down to jobs.

Alternet.org has a good analysis, gleaned from an old Business Week article:

” For years, everyone from politicians on both sides of the aisle to corporate execs to your Aunt Tilly have justifiably bemoaned American health care — the out-of-control costs, the vast inefficiencies, the lack of access, and the often inexplicable blunders.

But the very real problems with the health-care system mask a simple fact: Without it the nation’s labor market would be in a deep coma. Since 2001, 1.7 million new jobs have been added in the health-care sector, which includes related industries such as pharmaceuticals and health insurance. Meanwhile, the number of private-sector jobs outside of health care is no higher than it was five years ago.”