If I were a drug company and I wished to patent a readily available and inexpensive natural substance which has been shown to prevent disease, what would I do?
I think that first of all, I would make it sound as though my version were not only different but superior.
And I would definitely try to show that the natural version is not only ineffective but dangerous, even in the teeth of evidence to the contrary. I might even try to manipulate a focus on those side effects ....
I would probably say something like "our improved version will have therapeutic results without the dangerous side effects of the natural substance".
Ta Da! Watch for a pharmaceutical version of Vitamin D in the next few years.
