Rapid Responses to:
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Rapid Responses: Rapid Responses published:
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A generic irony?
- Graham Howarth (3 November 2001)
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Re: Irony?
- Dominic Smethurst (7 November 2001)
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Graham Howarth, Associate professor University of Pretoria
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The World Trade Organisation tightened legislation on intellectual property by passing the Trade-Related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) agreement in 1995. Passing of the agreement was largely facilitated by first world nations. Amongst other things the agreement placed restrictions on manufacturing generic medications and parallel imports. Article 31 of the agreement allowed a opt-out clause at times of national crisis. The South African government felt with approximately 4,7 million citizens infected with HIV they indeed had a national crisis and wished to import cheap generic equivalents. They were threatened with legal sanction by 39 powerful pharmacetical companies and censure by the US government. Fortunately common sense prevailed and the case was settled out of court, following a public outcry. Now US citizens are at risk of anthrax, although there are apparently only 15 confirmed cases. Initially the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommended ciprofloxacin as the antibiotic of choice, although other antibiotic may be effective and indeed the CDC now recommends doxycycline. Based on the intitial CDC recommendation the Bush administration threatened Bayer with the US buying generic equivalents. Although the polictics and legalities are no doubt extremely complex, superficially the whole issue smacks of double standards. |
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Dominic Smethurst, Clinical Research Fellow Centre for evidence-based dermatology.
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What better marketing strategy could a drug company invent? Deliver, free-of-charge, 4.7 million customers notorious for their lack of compliance and acknowledged tendancies towards further dissemination of a disease. Then involve all these patients in global drug consumption (for which they will pay you an admittedly reduced sum of money). Surely the only outcome worthy of prediciton would be widespread resistance to the present drug and thereby, widespread need for the next and newest product which would no-doubt enjoys less resistance, initially. In any complex evolutionary system interventions become embedded in the system as much as the disease itself. Anti-retrovirals are like cocaine to some HIV communities, addictive and temporary in their impact and likewise even more addictive to those who use them even more irresponsibly. Competing interests.
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