Almost 40 years ago, President Ronald Regan signed the Orphan Drugs Bill, just hours before the midnight deadline expired on January 4, 1983.  “Despite my reservations…I am gladly signing the orphan drug bill,” the then president said in a statement. “I only wish that with the stroke of this pen I could also decree that the pain and heartache of people who suffer from these diseases would cease.” Orphan drugs, so-called because pharmaceutical companies tended to abandon them due to their lack of financial viability, are intended for people who suffer from rare diseases. The 1983 Act, which was heavily championed…

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