I think a very good heuristic is to look out for current social taboos. Some examples that come to mind:
Psychopharmacology. There is still a huge taboo against handing out drugs that make people feel better because of fears of abuse or the simple ‘immorality’ of the idea. Many highly effective drug development leads might also not be pursued because of fear of abuse.
End-of-life suffering, effective palliative medicine and assisted suicide. A lot of extreme suffering might be concentrated around the last months and years of life, both in developing and in developed nations. Most people prefer not to think about it too hard, and the topic is very loaded with religious concerns.
I think a very good heuristic is to look out for current social taboos. Some examples that come to mind:
Psychopharmacology. There is still a huge taboo against handing out drugs that make people feel better because of fears of abuse or the simple ‘immorality’ of the idea. Many highly effective drug development leads might also not be pursued because of fear of abuse.
End-of-life suffering, effective palliative medicine and assisted suicide. A lot of extreme suffering might be concentrated around the last months and years of life, both in developing and in developed nations. Most people prefer not to think about it too hard, and the topic is very loaded with religious concerns.