I've read this for many years now but I've often wondered why The Orphan Drug Act is not used by Big Pharma. After all once a bacteria becomes resistant then that particular situation is similar to an orphan drug.<p>The Orphan Drug Act of 1983 is a law passed in the United States to facilitate the development of orphan drugs—drugs for rare diseases such as Huntington's disease, myoclonus, ALS, Tourette syndrome and muscular dystrophy which affect small numbers of individuals residing in the United States.