Ransom is not an acceptable business model

Summary: Patents are being used for price-fixing, rendering drugs inaccessible to those who need them the most, sometimes for their very survival

TECHRIGHTS has covered the issue of patents in medicine going back to the site's very early days, even though there are sites that are dedicated entirely to this issue. A lot of people die because of patents as a business model -- a model which the Gates Foundation is promoting for personal gain (profit) in medicine and agriculture.

In India, Congress is now taking further steps to tackle this problem. To quote some new commentary about it:

We recently discussed the US Chamber of Commerce's incredibly strange statement on the state of India's IP protection (or lack thereof). The CofC first applauded the success of India's Bollywood industry, achieved without strong IP protection, before insisting the only way it would survive was by implementing strong IP protection. This, of course, was the CofC advancing its own agenda, despite being faced with evidence to the contrary.

A lot of pressure is being put on India to comply with the interests of megacorporations from the West. They are constantly attacking or buying out generics providers. People actually die in bulk as a result of actions like these.

Over in the corporate press in the US, HIV drugs are framed in the context of MsF, as follows:

Doctors: Patents keep HIV drugs too pricey to use

Doctors Without Borders warned Tuesday that rising intellectual property rights are blocking the generic production of newer drugs to treat HIV and are keeping them out of reach for developing countries.

This is indeed what's happening. Drugs which cost just a few cents to make are being kept out of the hands of those who need them. This is a cartel, a price-fixing strategy which governments should call illegal as they begin to investigate the perpetrators. This is not just about HIV; many other drugs for other illnesses are being used as tool of ransom. This needs to stop. ⬆