Pharmaceutical Companies, Intellectual Property

Critics have pointed a finger at the unethical use of intellectual property in the pharmaceutical industry claiming it is being used to set prices far above what those in third world countries can afford. Given that a good number of the raw material came from these regions, it is unethical to use intellectual property

The pharmaceutical industry is one of the most powerful and greedy industries in our country, with a goal to make as large a profit as possible, at the expense of the sick.

Expanding into Asia (including India) so as to implement lower cost clinical testing and share opinions with leaders in the medical industry appeared to be a viable option. Drug prices however were substantially lower in India, profits were capped at 6% and post manufacturing costs were limited at 100%.

The branded pharmaceutical firms account for more than 50% of worldwide pharmaceutical sales. Thus they make huge profits. These profits can be used to fund hospitals in poor areas. This will not only give the firms respect but also a good recognition. Generic medicines are cheap and easily available. Though they may not be effective, but they serve the purpose for the poor. Some generic medicines may not give the desired results but the major diseases which occur among the poor people can be treated with generic medicines.

Right now you may still be able to decline a vaccine for yourself or your child but it is quickly becoming a routine practice of Medical facilities to drop patients that refuse vaccines. So I am left to ask myself is “big pharm” getting the government involved for the greater good of humanity or could it be that if an individual does not get certain vaccines or not get them as they are scheduled it would greatly hurt their very deep pockets?

After watching the video, I have realized that intellectual rights protection is based on the foundation of R&D investment, which are also the building blocks of the pharmaceutical industry. There is adequate evidence to proof that intellectual rights in the form of trademarks and patents are very significant in the pharmaceutical industry as is compared to any other industry. This may be caused by the fact that copyrights on prescription drugs are a better effective measure for increasing the limitation costs than copyrights on other commodities. The value of copyright protection relies on the duration of exclusivity. Although the lifespan of copyrights is predetermined by international treaty at 20 years from the filing of the copyright application, the actual period between gaining market approval and patenting, the significance of the copyright is much less than 20 years.

This casebook concentrates on the negative effects that the pharmaceutical industry’s trade and production policies have on third world nations suffering from disease epidemics. My position is that pharmaceutical companies are not concerned with the health benefits of their drugs, but rather with the market that their drugs generate. I illustrate this notion by describing the trade policies that pharmaceutical companies influence and the pharmaceutical companies’ production policies which concentrate on producing life-style drugs rather than drugs that cure life-threatening diseases.

The drug industry has severely attacked government, feeling that they are too restricted and that government has no right to

health makes alot of sense, but it doesn’t make alot of dollars” (Colquhoun), so the drug industry will proceed to feed pharmaceuticals to the public as long as it makes its shareholders filthy rich.

They are not obligated to provide these drugs to countries who cannot afford it. This is centered around the viewpoints of the Libertarian. Libertarians believe that they do not have to perform acts that are beneficial to others and their ideas/thoughts are more self-centered (Shaw & Berry, 2013, 115-118). Thus, supporting the idea that companies do not have to make drugs available in poor countries at little or no cost. These companies made their own profit selling and distributing drugs. Being that they made their own money and did not violate any laws, there is no sense of obligation to provide such drugs in poor

In my opinion, I don't believe that it is fair to market life style drugs as opposed to life saving drugs. Even though it's not fair or right the pharmaceutical companies to push these life style drugs they make the companies more revenue compared to drugs that could be potentially life saving. The article that states, between 1975 and 1997 only 1 percent of new medicines brought to the market were designed specifically to treat tropical diseases. It's obvious that these pharmaceutical companies would rather develop drugs that would increase their bottom line. In the article it's a quote from a industry watcher that states as companies get bigger they start focusing their research on the most profitable conditions and diseases.

Even though the pharmaceutical industry has made great improvements to human health and quality of life, like creating drugs for the treatment of AIDS, cancer, and other diseases, an increasing tension is growing between the public and the industry. These thoughts are fueled by issues such as drug pricing, affordable health care, and the battle against epidemic diseases in third world countries; social critics wonder whether this multi-billion dollar industry is giving enough back to the community and fulfilling its social responsibility.

Pharmaceutical companies had been reluctant to provide drugs to developing countries at reduced prices because of concerns around distributing drugs in unregulated and unreliable environments. They argued that this could create new drug-resistant

Therefore, protection of patents is one of the key conditions necessary for further development of the pharmaceutical industry. At the same time, non-efficient legislation that does not provide the necessary level of patent protection is one of the factors that hamper expansion of “Big Pharmaceutical” companies to the developing countries8.

A number of African countries have been the worst hit by the spective of AIDS. CIPLA an Indian Pharmaceutical Company has offered to market ant aids medicine at one length the cost at which it is sold by global pharmaceutical firm. However due to the product patent, law, substantial controversy has been generated around the globe on ethical grounds