The Republican presidential candidates have already proven that medical science can be a dangerous subject in a debate. Remember the exchange between Donald Trump and Ben Carson about whether vaccines cause autism? Good times.
Life sciences issues aren’t likely to be the centerpiece of Tuesday night’s Fox Business Network/Wall Street Journal debate, which is supposed to focus on business and economic issues. But the moderators could very well slip in some questions about medical science and policy — and in doing so, they could help us learn a lot about how the GOP candidates think, and whether they’ve thought about these issues at all. Most of them still haven’t spelled out specific ideas about how they would curb rising drug prices, nor have they said much about their positions on medical research funding.
Here are some medical science and policy questions to watch for:
