Geneticist Eric Lander, a biology professor at MIT, says his work as a member of the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology has convinced him that there is too often a disconnect between the fields of science and economics, blocking needed progress.
We need to forge a deeper understanding and relationship between economics and science, he told an audience of scientists, educators and journalists at the annual American Association for the Advancement of Science meeting over the weekend.
The lack of coordination between the two has led to problems in science and health care, said Lander. For instance, why cant we produce vaccines within two or three months of when we need them? Vaccines are low-margin, commodity items, he said. What about advances in sources of clean, low-carbon energy? Theres no natural incentive for buyers or sellers to develop new ones.
And health care is rife with market failure, he said. He mentioned the oft-criticized fee-for-service system, which encourages doctors to order more tests and perform more procedures. There is also no strong sense of urgency to improve health-care IT, said Lander, pointing out that Kaiser Permanente knew about the dangers of the painkiller Vioxx before the FDA did.
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