Originally posted by Dlevy
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The other point I left out was IRBs and regulatory bodies. "None" of the researchers fight to get their results to people? Really? None? How do you know that? I know plenty of researchers that have had to propose, re-write and re-propose, re-write and re-propose again before getting a study approved, and by the time you go through all of that to approve a study, it isn't the original design you had hoped for. Sometimes the opposite problem exists, where a study gets approved right away, but not enough people are available to staff the study, there are facility problems, etc, and a study dies.
Many scientists do care that people are "ready to die to try." One researcher is very vocal about how he thinks "right to try" laws should be passed where people could volunteer for studies if they understand the implications of risking it all.
I am not someone with a SCI, but I am an aspiring scientist. All of these things frustrate me, though I know not nearly as much as they frustrate you. However, I would encourage you to look more into the process of how research gets done. If you haven't already, order and read Don't Call it a Miracle from the Reeve Foundation's web site. Its available in a bunch of different formats and is free. Its a good explanation about how many scientists get caught in the never ending loop of keeping their careers afloat with grants, teaching, and rinky-dink studies just to make publication quotas.
If you want to make a difference, contact lawmakers about getting right-to-try laws passed. Contact university presidents and tell them they need to change the system by which they rate their researchers so the scientists can actually get something done. Learn about the hurdles that exist with scientific dissemination and why its so tough to get therapies from the lab to the clinic.
I believe if a researcher wants to get into this field, they should view it as a responsibility to get something done for the population they are trying to serve. That's how I view it and while many scientists don't think about it like that, many do as well. But it is not nearly as simple as you make it sound and statements like yours only fracture the community even more and hurt progress.
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