Indian law on generic drugs is upheld »
Posted By JamesMarcus 1 year, 2 months ago in StyleIndian pharmaceutical companies can continue making low-cost generic drugs, ensuring their flow to patients in the developing world, after a seminal challenge to patent laws in India was rejected Monday.
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JamesMarcus
James Marcus is a writer, translator, critic, and editor. He is the author of Amazonia: Five Years at the Epicenter of the Dot-Com Juggernaut and ...
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Comments So Far: 43
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DeLeMaComment removed: User banned.
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browntiger1 year, 2 months ago
I do agree, but....
High cost associated with massive advertising, some into 70mil mark per year; sales reps; execs salaries; absurdly expansive company building, executive towers, etc etc etc...
But the worst thing about that 80% - 90% of all drugs are worthless improvement over already good and effective drug: like nexiums, celebrex, liprator, etc etc etc....
None of them has been shown any proven benefit over existing yet government willing to pay full price for them.
And than obsession with finding treatment type drugs that have to be taken for years.
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SlapALib1 year, 2 months ago
Fine. If you want to produce a drug based on someone else's work, then pay the other party's research costs.
The part you missed was that it takes people to actually create the drugs and they aren't providing their labor for free. They could have done something else, like become lawyers and fight people who steal others' research.
For those who disagree, let me know when you're going to work on a strictly volunteer basis and I'll be glad to chat with you about your beliefs on stealing others' work while you work on whatever task I assign you.
Cheers.
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WillyWally51 year, 2 months ago
I don't think anyone expects anyone to work for free ... I do believe, however, that the high cost of many (not ALL) meds is artificially driven higher and higher in order to pad the pockets of --- no, not the deserving scientists ---but some executive with a swanky title. The researcher needs to be amply compensated. Perhaps just a SMALL part of that could come from the rewarding knowledge he/she has helped humanity. And I say a small part because we all know warm fuzzies don't pay the rent.
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joeblowe1 year, 2 months ago
HA! About 1 or 2 paragraphs is all you need to read here. Here's what the sneaky weasels are complaining about: The inability to secure a renewed patent for the SAME medicine if they just put it in a "time release" form. Since Novartis says they don't plan to appeal, it appears that even they know what a lousy, sneaky tactic that is. To my way of thinking, they should apply the same rules HERE. Making a minor change like that - or COMBINING two existing drugs - should NOT qualify for a new patent. Let's face it, it ain't new - it's just repackaged.
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joeblowe1 year, 2 months ago
Were they giving anything away for free to middle-class Indians? Assuming they could find any? Or were they just doing their own brand of communism by taking lots of drug money from "wealthy" Indians so they could give drugs away for free to poor Indians? Damn communist drug company. How about instead of that we get the drugs available at a fair price for EVERYONE - then if there are some still too poor to afford them, either the government medicaid type program or some other charity helps out?
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LARK1 year, 2 months ago
Rich Indians are very rich and have been rich for decades at least, and very proud too.
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fgmahoney1 year, 2 months ago
This is nothing more than thief. Selling someone else's work and investment. I understand the suffering of the sick but the companies that are making these drugs are not doing it for free. They are profiting and getting rich. The US needs to protect patents of US companies. People have a right to disagree but if I told them I would only pay them 1/2 pay after the work was done they would be up in arms.
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stangme011 year, 2 months ago
the problem is that the pharmaceutical market is the most profitable business in the world. That alone is sick, very sick. Most of the meds on the market aren/t there to help people, they are on there for profit. They don't care about long term affects, they hide the info on test patients who have had undesireable effects that would stop most people from buying the meds. All the psychological drugs on the market are absolutely horrible for people. I had no idea how many people in my life are on some sort of "mental health" meds, and lately i'm finding out almost everyone i meet is/or has been on these crap "be happy" drugs. My brother is still recovering from his damn ridilin days.
Anyway i'm rambling ****** all these companies. Meds should cost as much as advil, cough syrup etc. Not $1000's per month on pills that have already pulled in a huge profit over their overhead costs for research. The oil companies are poor compared to these companies.......
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WillyWally51 year, 2 months ago
I used to do background checks for a living and we worked for several RX companies ... We'd verify past employment and earnings and let me tell you, those earnings were ASTRONOMICAL! Particularly for their sales force ... who were almost ALL under the age of 30, by the way, and pulling in HUGE annual incomes. That was some insight into why all these drugs cost a small fortune. ANd you have ever seen these folks pull up to a clinic? Dressed to the nines and driving big ol' fancy SUVs. ANd usually wanting to see YOUR doctor who has already kept you and your sick kid waiting forever! Ay yi yi. Oh well. NOw I'm rambling!: )
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ALL4IT1 year, 2 months ago
I agree with you regarding the dangerous manipulations we can suffer from the big pharmaceutical Co's but I don't think that a "no-demand no-profit" approach will be the answer to our needs, but a combination of public/private development might.
The problem with the public organizations is that a lot of resources are lost to administrative corruption and established interests.
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LARK1 year, 2 months ago
Is it possible that some of the pharm "evils" lie in malpractices other than protection of patent rights? If what's said about patent in this thread applies, shouldn't this apply to other products such as software and other brand names?
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ALL4IT1 year, 2 months ago
Protection patent laws should be made fairer, for the sake of human health but also to stimulate continuos research. While too long time of protection will stiffle a company's interest in new developments, not enough revenue will cause the needed resources to be invested in other sectors of the economy leaving laboratories only in colleges and universities.
If pharmaceutical companies continue abusing their ownership of life-saving or life-improving chemicals, they will loose even what is rightfully theirs.
Monopolies of any kind or type and under any disguise are incapable of creating sustanaible benefits for consumers nor, eventually, for investors.
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SlapALib1 year, 2 months ago
17% of what? Don't worry about it, I know.
I was reading Pfizer's 10-K yesterday and they do tell me that, except Pfizer spends just under 15% of their revenue on R&D which comes out to over $7 billion.
And you want to complain about advertising and admin? Do you think these drugs sell themselves? Pharma companies have to compete against one another for sales, so deal with it.
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LARK1 year, 2 months ago
I think separate issues are involved although they are related -- 1. respecting patent rights and intellectual property 2. how the phamr cos are profiteering, how they should act more for people's health with what they have got by not getting so much money from the poor, by not hiding truths etc.
The current issue may or may not be justified, but if one justifies it with all the unfairness and bad things pharm cos do to patients, it seems to say that from now on, it's morally okay to copy meds.
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