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So there are reports out of China now that scientists have found a cure for diabetes and

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the American pharmaceutical industry is not happy about it. There are now examples of Chinese

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patients receiving this experimental stem cell therapy and after about 11 weeks no longer

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requiring insulin, which I imagine is something that sounds amazing to people with diabetes,

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no longer having to poke yourself. But it doesn't sound amazing to giant American pharmaceutical

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companies like Eli Lilly who currently dominate the insulin market and use it to make billions

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of dollars. And this has been very controversial as they've regularly increased the price of insulin

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knowing that it's a necessary commodity that people with diabetes need to survive. And this

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is extra disgusting because the inventor of insulin, Frederick Banting, originally sold a patent for

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$1 saying that insulin doesn't belong to me, it belongs to the world. And if people can be cured

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of diabetes so they no longer need insulin, obviously that would really cut into the demand

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for this product and cut into their profits. And here we see the contradictory nature of the

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for-profit American healthcare system. Innovation and advancements in medical technology are actually

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disincentivized if they have the potential to cure the patient and make it so they're no longer a

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repeat customer for the pharmaceutical industry. So much for capitalism promoting innovation and

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socialism destroying it. In reality, it's the opposite.