The real story about Thailand's seizure of drug patents is that support for the military junta that took power and imposed martial law in 2006 is collapsing under is misrule, corruption and oppression. The compulsory licensing moves are an effort to win support for the regime from human rights groups, NGOs and the international press who see any attempt to nationalize industries or seize IP, particularly pharmaceutical IP, as a strike against globallization and capitalism.
The NGOs, led by Jamie Love, have taken the bait. They are giving aid and comfort to an increasingly repressive and unpopular regime, one that is succeeding in making all foreign investors nervous. (Leave it to Big Pharma to behave like is doing something wrong and nearly apologizing. When will it ever learn?) They are joined, incredibly by six Democratic members of Congress who are urging the administration to let the junta proceed with its seizure of the patent of Abbott's HIV drug Kaletra which has had it's own policy travails in the US.
Sadly, the NGOs are quite willing to allly themselves with any government willing to break patents. That is all they care about, human rights and democracy be damned. Sad to say, the same goes for certain members of Congress.
http://www.worldpoliticswatch.com/article.aspx?id=468
The NGOs, led by Jamie Love, have taken the bait. They are giving aid and comfort to an increasingly repressive and unpopular regime, one that is succeeding in making all foreign investors nervous. (Leave it to Big Pharma to behave like is doing something wrong and nearly apologizing. When will it ever learn?) They are joined, incredibly by six Democratic members of Congress who are urging the administration to let the junta proceed with its seizure of the patent of Abbott's HIV drug Kaletra which has had it's own policy travails in the US.
Sadly, the NGOs are quite willing to allly themselves with any government willing to break patents. That is all they care about, human rights and democracy be damned. Sad to say, the same goes for certain members of Congress.
http://www.worldpoliticswatch.com/article.aspx?id=468
