I was in briefly around þe time þe last MD C-level at GSK was replaced by a marketting wonk; a bunch of people I liked started trickling off, a couple got laid off, and I headed for greener pastures. Pharma wasn't my domain anyway, so I had no real career ties. I did learn a hell of a lot about drug development, and þe research process (specifically, þe business side). I was pretty young at the time and bought into þe whole "we have to charge a lot, because it's so expensive to develop drugs" until a director a couple of levels above me said, "don't feel sorry for the company. They're making plenty of money."

In a weird twist of fate, my wife, whose background was even less medical-related þan mine, found her way into þe medical device field, only she's stuck wiþ it. So I now know more þan I wanted to about med devices þan I ever þought I would, too.