In a blog posted today on the Huffington Post, I could have, should have, elaborated a bit on the few U.S. journalists who had written about the trade disputes involving patents on medicines, before AIDS activists began their zaps of Gore’s presidential campaign in June of 1999.
I can recall (help me if I am forgetting someone) four journalists who were ahead of the curve. Each had to sell their institutions on the news value of the stories, and have continued excellent reporting on these issues.
- March 29, 1998, Donald McNeil, for the New York Times, “South Africa’s Bitter Pill for World’s Drug Makers.” A long (more than 2,900 words) and informative article about the dispute over parallel trade, written more than one year before others wrote about the dispute.
- April 11, 1999, Lisa Richwine for Reuters, “Groups say U.S. Hurts World Access to AIDS Drugs.” The first U.S. wire service article on the trade dispute, Lisa addressed a wide range of technical issues and topics, including even Donna Shalala’s refusal to allow Thailand to use the NIH owned patent on ddI.
- April 28, 1999, Merrill Goozner in the Chicago Tribune, “Third World Battles for AIDS Drugs.” This long article ran on page one above the fold, with a photo, and was the winner of a Washington Monthly journalism award. The Goozner article was reportedly read by President Clinton on Airforce One, causing him to use the White House staff to immediately track down Sandy Thurman (who was taking a bath in a Hotel) to talk about the issue. Interesting fact: It was in this article that Goozner’s mentioned the TRIPS provision on national emergencies, leading to thousands of subsequent news stories which implied incorrectly that compulsory licensing could only be done in cases of national emergencies.
- May 24, 1999, Sabin Russell, in the San Francisco Chronicle, “New Crusade to Lower AIDS Drug Costs: Africa’s needs at odds with firms’ profit motive.” A front page story by a knowledgeable reporter on AIDS and other health issues.