It always amazes me that after spending over $800,000,000 USD (as required by the FDA) to approve a medication for a specific disease, and after conducting dozens of placebo-based double blind human studies, the results of these studies are rarely publicized by the pharmaceutical companies. In many cases, the study results are even hidden behind foundations or other barriers to prevent inspection by the public eye.

Even more amazing to me, after a medication has been released to be sold to the public, there are rarely follow up studies to determine the real-world safety and efficacy of such (unless a large number of people are gravely harmed by it). Any attempt to hide scientific research that is of paramount public interest has never set well with me, especially when the research has been financed by public funds. I speak from the viewpoint of a PhD level researcher.

The adverse side effects of medications, however, are required to be publicly disclosed. Evidence of this can be seen in pharmaceutical advertisements. Public advertisements often feature actors that are depicted as being happy to be free from the ravages of the disease but offer little else of substance except for occasional mild claims that it works under certain conditions. This is then followed by the long list of possible side effects.

New hope for health care simply comes with a better public disclosure of the scientific study results. Imagine if there was an official government website that published the scientific findings on treatments from all credible sources, summarized on a table that looks something like this:

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Disease: Flojitis Type x (fictional)

Treatment	Description	Length of Treatment	Improvements Observed	Average % of People Improved	Cost per month	Side Effects
Blue Pill	2x daily…	…Life…	…controlled…	23%	$2400	…kidney…
Mineral x	infusion	…3 weeks…	…reversed…	81%	$350	…nausea…
…	…	…	…	…	…	…

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My intuition tells me that this would probably be a VERY popular website. Especially if it was comprehensive, unbiased, and verified by independent scientists. The real evolution would come when people start to realize that they have the freedom and information to make informed decisions between various treatments.

The whole health care market would shift overnight. Verified treatments for certain diseases would become fiercely competitive. The science behind treatments would fall under strict scrutiny. Pharmaceutical companies, universities, and hospitals would hustle to find better, more cost-effective, solutions. The entity that found better methods would profit the most. Cost of health care would plummet. The quality of treatments would skyrocket. The number of options would compound.

In short, the health care system would naturally be healed, everyone would have a new hope for health care. What do you think? Please leave your opinions in the comments.