In the last half century, American life expectancy has increased by over ten years for both men and women. The President’s Council of Advisors in Science and Technology partly attributed this groundbreaking achievement to innovative medicines, treatments and cures developed by the industry. For instance:
- Since 1995, the death rates for patients with HIV/AIDS has decreased by 85 percent,
- Since 2001, heart disease death rates have declined by 30 percent,
- Since 1991, cancer death rates have gone down by 22 percent,
Biopharmaceutical companies have also developed medicines that have extended the lives of patients with terminal illnesses, limited the number of costly and time-consuming hospital visits, and provided much needed relief for painful and uncomfortable symptoms. Critics of the biopharmaceutical industry often fail to point out that these remarkable achievements.