385
What are some notable scams in history that went unnoticed for so long? (lemmy.ml)
submitted 3 years ago by to c/asklemmy@lemmy.ml
452 comments fedilink hide all child comments
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] 14 points 3 years ago (2 children)

You’re almost right. Modern medicine needs to synthesize natural compounds to profit fully from them. They can’t just use natural remedies and present them to patients because they can’t patent them.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 4 child comments
    •
  • [–] 25 points 3 years ago (1 child)

    I'm sure that's a major part of it, but I also wouldn't want to live in a world where we could only get aspirin from willow bark. We either wouldn't have enough aspirin or we wouldn't have any more willow trees. Medicines derived from the actual source aren't possible on a global scale in most cases.

    Capitalism is a blight on society and has lead to countless deaths. But in a utopia where money doesn't exist and people create medicine for the world only to help people with no profit they still need to synthesize it.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 2 child comments
    •
  • [–] 3 points 3 years ago

    major part of it, but I also wouldn’t want to live in a world where we could only get aspirin from willow bark. We either wouldn’t have enough aspirin or we wouldn’t have any more willow trees. Medicines derived from the actual source aren’t possible on a global scale in most cases.

    Capitalism is a blight on society and has lead to countless deaths. But in a utopia where money doesn’t exist and people create medicine for the world only to help people wit

    I agree with you but in that case, the need to synthesize it could be made entirely based on practicality rather than profit.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • [–] 8 points 3 years ago

    Not all countries have for profit medicine though. I'm sure it's a factor, but it's not a universal thing.

    There are other reasons why "natural" remedies get more scrutiny in the medical community, and the other comments have touched on a few of them

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent