Broken promise by President Obama on parallel trade in pharmaceuticals

As candidates, almost all democrats have promised voters, in several elections, they will support parallel trade in pharmaceuticals from Canada and other high income countries. As elected officials, nothing happens. President Obama already has authority to permit imports of medicines, if he wanted to exercise it. But not only is the White House not fullfillinbg the promise to allow imports, it has promised the CEO of PhRMA and several big companies that they won’t allow parallel trade in the health reform bill.

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Howard Dean as a shill for BIO, on Biosimilars bill

The July 20, 2009 issue of BioCentury has an extensive report on the “Biosimilar fire Drill.” It discusses in detail the lobbying by the Biotechnology Industry Association (BIO, bio.org) to defeat efforts by President Obama, OMB, the FTC, Representative Waxman, Senator Brown, AARP, Public Citizen, PIRG, Consumers Union, KEI, Essential Action, and others, to reform the regulation to biologic medicines, so there is more generic competition. Continue Reading

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Indian Minister of State for External Affairs broaches seizures of generics at ECOSOC

Note: Only a portion of the speech is reproduced here.

High-Level Segment of the Economic and Social Council

Special Event on Africa and the Least Developed Countries:

Partnerships and Health

(1130 – 1330 hrs, 8 July 2009, Geneva

Intervention by Hono’ble Minister of State for External Affairs, Smt. Preneet Kaur

Hon’ble Co-Chairs/Madam Moderator, Distinguished Delegates,

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Pope Benedict XVI encyclical letter denounces excessive zeal for assertions of intellectual property rights in knowledge

Pope Benedict XVI today issued a statement saying that “On the part of rich countries, there is excessive zeal for protecting knowledge through an unduly rigid assertion of the right to intellectual property, especially in the field of health care.” The criticism came in a section of his most recent encyclical letter dealing with social issues, and specifically focusing on international human development and systemic failures of bodies large and small to solve development problems.

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Civil Society letter to Members of the WHO Expert Working Group on R&D Financing

Today nine NGOs sent a letter the WHO Expert Working Group on R&D Financing. The letter focuses on issues about transparency, conflicts of interest, and EWG outcomes. The whole EWG seems to be going very badly right now, in part because of the US government and much of Northern Europe is working hand and glove with the pharmaceutical industry, and partly because the Gates Foundation is protecting big pharma and seems to have an ideological attachment to strong IPR.

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2009: PAHO dispute over standards for transparency of economic data for pharmaceutical industry

Today the executive board of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) is considering a proposal to have more transparency of the economics of the pharmaceutical industry. (I have separately blogged about this on the Huffpo). Specifically, an amendment offered to a PAHO EB resolution on research, proposed the following:

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Views on the outcome of WIPO SCCR 18: Brazil, Ecuador and Paraguay Treaty for Reading Disabilities

On Friday, May 29, the 18th Session of the WIPO Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights (SCCR) agreed to consider a proposal submitted by the governments of Brazil, Ecuador and Paraguay Relating to Limitations and Exceptions on a Treaty for Reading Disabled Persons at its next meeting in November 2009 (19th Session). KEI has collated views on the outcome of the 18th SCCR from the following countries and NGOs.

Views on the outcome of WIPO SCCR 18: Brazil, Ecuador and Paraguay Treaty for Reading Disabled Persons

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