KEI Comments to EWG 2nd Web-based Public Hearing: Defending the Status Quo, or Roadmap for Change?
On Saturday, KEI filed comments with the WHO EWG’s 2nd web based hearing. Our comments focused on the criteria for new proposals. Continue Reading
KEI asks FTC to Investigate Gilead Effort To Control Market For AIDS Drugs Ingredients
Press Release 15 Feb 07 FMI James Love +1.202.332.2670, cell +1.202.361.3040, james.love@keionline.org September 2, 2009 (See attachment for patent and health experts contact information) FTC ASKED TO INVESTIGATE GILEAD EFFORT TO CONTROL MARKET FOR AIDS DRUGS INGREDIENTS [Complaint available… Continue Reading
WHO Expert Working Group on R&D Financing (EWG)
WHO website on the EWG NEWS: The EWG secretariat has released a draft evaluation framework, evaluation criteria and the inventory of financing proposals. The EWG is accepting public comments through the Second Web-based Public Hearing. Deadline: September 5 2009. KEI… Continue Reading
The Berkeley meeting on the Google Books Settlement
The web page for the Berkeley workshop on the Google Book Settlement is here. Much of the documentation about the settlement is available here. http://thepublicindex.org/
The agreed upon twitter hash tag seems to be: #gbsfia Continue Reading
How will WIPO provide a “speedy solution” to the problems faced by the reading disabled persons in accessing copyrighted works?
In May 2009, at the WIPO Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights (SCCR) 18th session, the governments of Brazil, Ecuador and Paraguay formally tabled a proposal to WIPO endorsing the World Blind Union’s Treaty for Reading Disabled Persons.
White House Redacts Contract Details for Recovery.gov
According to this report from Pro Publica, the contract with a firm hired to make contracts public, is highly redacted.
Clay Johnson, the director of the Sunlight Labs [10] project at the Sunlight Foundation [11], called the level of redaction in the documents remarkable.
New York Times reports drug companies pressured DLA Piper to fire Dick Armey
According to this August 15 report in the New York Times by David Kirkpatrick, drug companies pressed DLA Piper to fire Dick Armey, because Freedom Works, a group chaired by Dick Armey, was opposing the health reform legislation that PhRMA now backs. Continue Reading
More on the White House/PhRMA deal
In an August 14, 2009 article in the LA Times, Tom Hamburger provides yet another installment in the ongoing disclosures about a secret White House deal with PhRMA on pharmaceutical pricing.
Recap on the House vote on Biosimilars
The rollcall for the biosimilars vote in on the Internet here. Based upon the count released by the committee, voting for the Eshoo Amendment were 26 Democrats and 21 Republicans. Voting against were 1 republican (Deal) and 10 Democrats. One Republican did not vote. I have bolded the Nay votes.
2009: White House: ACTA still “secret in the interest of national defense or foreign policy”
By James Love, on July 31st, 2009
On Thursday, July 30, 2009, the White House office of the United States Trade Representative denied release of 4 new proposals for text that were circulated in July to “all countries” in the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) negotiations. The request was limited to documents that were prepared in the past 90 days for purpose of discussion at the July 2009 ACTA negotiating meeting held in Morocco.
USTR located 4 such documents, but denied the FOIA request under 5 USC 552(b)(1). The specific exception cited reads as follows: