In reply to Jan Moren.

Jan, this is true, but it wasn't so much the specifics that got me as that this was emblematic of a deeper problem. That medical research is configured, funded, and run for the benefit of medical researchers rather than patients. This is institutional rather than personal but I think there is a real risk that we are heading towards a situation where those people who have been pounding the pavements fundraising, and are our most natural allies in persuading government to support research are becoming disillusioned by what they are supporting.