Former President Clinton Discusses Technology, Future Of Health Care At Event In Philadelphia
By Ian Bush
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Former President Bill Clinton was in Philadelphia Monday afternoon -- not stumping for Hillary in her run for the White House, but instead talking about health care to an invitation-only gathering of biotech executives and doctors in Old City.
Clinton's medical history is no secret.
"I had a quadruple heart bypass, and I take statins."
That's common. But what about the high, sometimes unreachable price for some treatments, like the $80,000 cure for Hepatits C?
"People love you when you come up with a new drug and curse you when it costs too much."
Clinton telling biopharmaceutical leaders here to be upfront about the benefits -- "don't rig it," he cautions -- the 'value of productive years' a patient on the medication will enjoy.
His optimism for the future stems in part from a return on investment:
"I spent $3 billion of your tax money to sequence the human genome -- to finish it."
Now he sees hope for treating tumors by genetic makeup rather than location in the body:
"...will probably lift, within a few years, virtually every kind of cancer well above an 80 percent survival rate."
Clinton spoke at the inaugural Klick Ideas Exchange, which featured doctors, authors, noted medical researchers, and business management experts.