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Recently I was in my office discussing the economy with a new acquaintance. He was quick to point out that in his mind, there were three "evils" in the world that were actually causing our sagging economy and financial collapse. I was dumbfounded when he gave me the list. They were:

• 1. Big Oil
• 2. Big Tobacco
• 3. Big Pharma

Hmmm . . .

Rather than commenting on what may or may not have caused the current economic crisis, let me instead talk about supposed "Evil #3." Maybe the reason people hate Pharma's so much is because they can't understand why a little 20-tablet prescription costs $120! When that number shows up on the cash register, our first thought is, "These guys are making an absolute killing!" Of course, in most cases, our insurance pays much of that cost, but we pay the rest anyway because, well - we need the medication. But in the back of our minds, we just know we're getting ripped off don't we? And here are the numbers to prove it. "Big Pharma" made 58.8 billion dollars last year? Now that my friends, is a lot of money!

Wait - hold the phone. It seems that my calculations are incorrect. My bad. Actually, $58.8 billion dollars is what the pharmaceutical and biotechnology research companies spent on Research and Development in 2007. Did you know that pharmaceutical companies invest as much as five times more in research and development, than the average U.S. manufacturing firm? Yeah, these guys are real losers. A group whose stated mission is to "Help patients live longer, healthier and more productive lives" definitely belongs in the company of "Big Tobacco."

I'm not saying pharmaceutical companies don't have their problems. Every industry has strengths and weaknesses and the Pharma's are no exception. But I'd like to get to the heart of the matter, which boils down to two questions;

• 1. Why does that 20-tablet prescription really cost $120?
• 2. Are we really being ripped off by pharmaceutical companies?

Allow me to share some statistics from a list of the top 100 U.S. Research and Development investors by company. Meaning, these companies are ranked from 1-100 by the amount of money they invest in Research and Development. These stats are telling:

• 2 of the top 3 companies listed are pharmaceutical companies.
• 11 out of the top 25 companies on the list are Pharma's.
• Conversely, There are only 2 oil companies on the list - Exxon Mobile is #50 and Chevron Corp is #68 (Shouldn't they be doing a lot of oil exploration right about now?)
• And believe it or not, the only tobacco company I found on the list was Altria (formerly Phillip Morris) at #62. (What exactly are they researching anyway?)
• The pharmaceutical companies in the top 25 are investing an average of 15.9% of their sales revenues on Research and Development, compared with an average of 0.25% for "Big Oil" and a whopping 1.7% for "Big Tobacco."

At present, pharmaceutical companies have more than 2,700 new medicines in development for such conditions as cancer, diabetes, heart disease, HIV/AIDS, mental health conditions and other rare diseases. But why do their medications cost so much money? Because only 1 out of every 5,000 - 10,000 compounds investigated by pharmaceutical researchers actually makes it to approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for patient use.

So here's my point;

• My mother has had heart disease for 17 years
• My daughter's severe asthma is under control
• My aunt is a breast cancer survivor and
• My diabetic uncle lives a relatively normal and productive life

Without pharmaceutical and biotechnology research companies, it's probable that none of these people would be alive today.

Next time you have a loved one in the emergency room, or struggling with a debilitating illness, think twice about "Big Bad Pharma."

Jon Black is the President and CEO of checkMD. http://www.checkmd.com/ is a premier online community and medical resource that unites people, physicians, hospitals, pharmacies and the afflicted. With fully interactive forums and features that allow you to share experiences, make recommendations, research providers and connect directly with others, checkMD empowers people to make more informed decisions and heal the healthcare community.