Debbie,
the unknown is frightening and the mind is ready to fill in blanks with monsters etc. These feelings are not based on reality but on frustration.
If there were miracle cures around it would be known. There is a LOT of hype and many drugs that look good initially can never be given to a human because they are too dangerous. Drug development takes a lot of time and money, so it inconceivable that a miracle drug would not be marketed. A pharmaceutical company just cannot be that stupid. In addition, the basic research is freely available. There is no such thing as pharmaceutical people... these are companies that employ researchers, technicians, secretaries, lawyers, sales people, janitors. etc..... ultimately people just like you and me. It is not a cabal!
Look at it another way, do cancer researcher get cancer? Yes they do (!) and they all of a sudden find themselves in a room with a bunch of other people who look really sick and are also hooked up to cisplatin etc. just like anybody else (with a treatment plan essentially just like anybody else). My professional speciality is DNA structure and repair which is of course related to cancer. This however, did not help me one damn thing (basic research). I had a pretty good idea what was going on during my treatment which made the experience less frightening (i.e. IMRT, chemo etc). Even so SNAFUS happen as was the case with Erbitux. There are also other MO's I know who had H&N cancer and who were treated similarly.

I can appreciate your frustration but there is no conspiracy here.



M