Introducing...

This blog is dedicated to busy people who want to know what the public is hearing about new, recalled, and emerging drugs and their use in treating various human ailments.

I know little about the work that goes on behind the scenes in creating new substances to help us when something goes wrong with our bodies or minds. I know even less about how they work. So that's where I'll start, with some numbers to give us a little perspective.

The pharmaceutical industry today is huge any way it can be measured. The following is from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics:

• In 2004 the industry provided 291,000 jobs at 2,500 locations throughout the U.S.
• Jobs are growing. The industry will increase jobs by 26 percent from 2004 to 2014 compared with a 16 percent employment increase in other industries.
• For every 5,000 to 10,000 chemical compounds undergoing strict screening to determine their potential as drugs, only one will make it to market.
  

Some questions I'd like to search out in the months to come. Add yours any time.

• What is going on today in the world of pharmaceuticals?
• How is foreign competition affecting quality, prices, and availability of drugs?
• Is the FDA shortening the time needed to approve of new drugs? Why or why not?
• Why are prices climbing higher and higher for drugs we need for health?
• What are generic drugs? What is their effect on the drug industry?
• Will psychotropic drugs some day eliminate mental illness?
• What is the next break-through in cancer therapy?
  

Come back or ask me to let you know when the content of this blog is updated, and I'll send you email.