In The News

Chinese Gangs “Behind Fake Drugs”

Jill McGivering June 5, 2007
Criminal Chinese gangs are manufacturing counterfeit drugs on an industrial scale, according to reports from BBC News. The fake drugs are highly sophisticated and are sold throughout Asia, Africa and even Europe. “International health officials warn that anti-malarial drugs are just the tip of the iceberg,” reports BBC News. “There is also growing concern about fake antibiotics and fake anti-...

Brazil to Break Merck AIDS Drug Patent to Lower Price

Katia Cortes May 17, 2007
Brazil’s president signed an order to override the patent of Merck and Company’s signature AIDS drug, thereby opening the field to lower-cost producers to sell generic versions of the drug. Citing a 2001 World Trade Organization ruling permitting countries to overrule drug patents in cases of national health emergencies, Brazil rejected Merck’s offer to reduce the price of Efavirenz, part of an...

Rise of a Deadly TB Reveals a Global System in Crisis

Lawrence K. Altman March 20, 2007
A new form of tuberculosis so resistant to antibiotics that doctors label it as “incurable” has emerged in South Africa – and could also be present in China, Russia and India. “The recipe for spreading the disease is the same throughout the world: inappropriate use of antibiotics,” writes physician Lawrence Altman for “The New York Times.” Bacteria become resistant to antibiotics when the drugs...

Prizes, Not Patents

Joseph E. Stiglitz March 19, 2007
The pharmaceutical industry relies on patent protection for profits and claims to reinvest those profits into more research for medicines that save lives. But the system has an inherent flaw when people with infectious diseases cannot afford the life-saving drugs and companies focus most effort on the health woes of the wealthiest who can afford treatment. Economist Joseph Stiglitz recommends an...

Globalization Forces a Health-Check of US Auto Industry

Susan Froetschel February 19, 2007
Of the top six automobile-manufacturing countries in the world, the US and China are the only ones that lack universal government-backed health care. US workers expect employers like Ford, General Motors and Chrysler to provide cradle-to-grave health coverage, a significant cost burden not shared by competitors. The problem is exacerbated by health plans for retired employees – every plant...

Thai Move to Trim Drug Costs Highlights Growing Patent Rift

Nicholas Zamiska February 8, 2007
Thailand’s plan to lower the price of pharmaceuticals for its citizens by ignoring existing patents reignites the debate between health advocates and supporters of intellectual-property rights. At the center of the conflict is a dispute over what will save the most lives in the long term. By ignoring patents, the government can lower its drug costs and therefore provide twice as many people with...

Tajikistan's Iron Man

December 26, 2006
Imomali Rahmonov has been reelected president of Tajikistan, but only after amending his nation’s constitution to allow his run for a third term. Though his margin of victory was low by the standards of the strongmen of the world – he received only 79.3 percent of the vote – the nod to democratic process cannot disguise the administration’s control over the outcome. Official observers from...