Biomedical research, like care, is paid for late. Klein and Thompson report that in heart disease, publications and trials have soared while lives saved or extended have slowed, and quote Topol that cancer research has produced many drugs for very sick patients that mostly add a few months and shockingly few approved to prevent cancer. Grade: a research-productivity estimate (Bloom et al.) and an expert's judgement, not a measured split of research spending between treatment and prevention.

Evidence 3 passages

• groundsAbundance, Ezra Klein, Derek Thompson

  In heart disease research, the number of journal publications has increased and the number of clinical trials has soared, but the quantity of lives saved or extended has slowed significantly.

• groundsAbundance, Ezra Klein, Derek Thompson

  Although there are many drugs approved to treat very sick cancer patients, there are shockingly few drugs approved to prevent cancer in the first place.

• groundsAbundance, Ezra Klein, Derek Thompson

  There are all these drugs for treatment that mostly just extend people's lives a few months.

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