Big PhRMA is at it again

I guess the saying "you get what you pay for," is really true. Yesterday Oxfam America came out with one of its great Briefing Papers entitled Patents vs. Patients.

Last year I wrote a Student Note (its really long and boring but here is the link if you want to read it) for my Law Review looking at how the US is pressuring smaller, underdeveloped countries into adopting TRIPS-Plus intellectual property laws. The US uses the Trade Representative (USTR) to implement these policies. A couple of the tools the USTR uses to accomplish this are 1) the use of 'Section 301' watch lists and 2) Bi-lateral trade agreements. I'll address the later first. These bi-lateral trade agreements are done just between the US and the target country, completely by-passing the WTO. Most of the time the target country desparetly needs the agreement to break into the US market. The USTR knows how valuable the US market place is and can totally shut out smaller developing countries. Because of the pharamceutical industries massive lobbying effort and the number of former pharamceutical executives now advising the USTR, the USTR always includes as part of a FTA provisions requiring the target country to adopt very strict IP laws. This can restrict a countries rights under the Doha Agreement (which allows a country to basically obtain a compulsory license when facing a public health emergency). The Section 301 watch lists are another way the USTR pressures countries to adopt IP laws more restrictive than TRIPS or face sanctions for the US.

Now it appears that the pharmaceutical industry isn't happy with the results they have gotten from this process in India. India did change its IP laws to conform with TRIPS, and now Novartis is sueing because they aren't happy with those laws. The problem is that most of Africa is facing a public health crisis with AIDS, however those countries don't have the capacity to manufacture their own drugs so they look to countries like India to get affordable drugs. So if Novartis wins the India export industry to Africa might be shut off. Thereby further shutting off use of the already under used Doha Agreement.