Apparently ~5000 Americans die each year from illegal drug use, while ~100,000 die from taking legal drugs that don't groove with their physicality- painkillers, antidepressants, diet pills. And apparently the technology exists to alleviate this, through genetic-based "personalized medicine."
The trouble is, it doesn't seem to be in the interests of biotech companies to pursue widely-available personalized medicine, because it would greatly reduce the market for their current drug offerings.
Yay capitalism!
AlwaysOn has the details, including an excellent comparison to the plight of the music industry.