U.S. punishes India for placing public health before corporate profits
by Dr. Margaret Flowers
The U.S. Trade Report released yesterday continues to hold India in Priority Watch Status because India is not caving in to pressure from pharmaceutical corporations who want to sell high-priced patented medications in India. For the past decade, India has taken the lead in producing low-cost generic medications to meet important areas of need such as the treatment of infectious diseases. India also has a strict approval process for patented medications such that new pharmaceuticals must actually prove that they are more effective than current drugs before being approved.
India's actions mean that the people of India and their neighbors are able to afford life-saving medicines, but US pharmaceutical corporations are in an uproar because of barriers to making profit in India. The USTR also criticizes India for giving preferential treatment to local industries over international corporations. The report criticizes nations for not engaging in good faith negotiations with the U.S., but the Obama Administration is notorious for pressuring other nations to go against their own interests so that multinational corporations can profit.
Nations like India should not be punished for putting the needs of their populations first. And profit should not be made at the cost of suffering and preventable death. The development of more generic medicines and sharing of research that can improve or save lives rather than holding on to it as 'trade secrets' should be encouraged. .....................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://greenshadowcabinet.us/statements/flowers-us-punishes-india-placing-public-health-corporate-profits
= new reply since forum marked as read
...to the link at the end of the article: See: Obama Administration: Big Pharma Worth More Than Lives of People in India:
A generic version, approved by the Indian government, cost just $157 a month (NB: that's still $1884/year, $474 above per capita income). Under the compulsory license issued by the government, Bayer received a 6 percent royalty on sales of the generic drug.
USTR maintained a low public profile domestically during the hubub that ensued, but other Obama administration officials lashed out at the Indian government, accusing it of violating World Trade Organization treaties.
In a July 2012 hearing, U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Deputy Director Teresa Stanek Rea called the decision an “egregious” WTO violation. “This is front and center,” she said. “[We are] trying to stop the granting of further compulsory licenses.”
Compulsory licensing — the granting of a license to produce a generic version of a product — is explicitly protected by WTO treaties to help countries improve public health and ensure access to medicines.
USTR referenced the Nexavar case in its Special 301 Report, objecting to the Indian government decision for saying the country’s law allows a compulsory license on products that are not being manufactured in India three years after they are patented. The India court’s decision, however, primarily focused on Bayer’s failure to meet demand for the medication and the firm’s failure to offer the drug at “reasonably affordable price.”
James Love, director of the nonprofit group Knowledge Ecology International, told HuffPost the Obama administration, by focusing on India’s domestic drug production rules, neglected to admit it was trying to force India to accept a $65,000 annual price for a cancer drug.
Spend a buck to make a buck,
You don't really give a flying fuck
About the people in misery.
Thanks for the post, mm.
... i.e. our world trade agreements. Probably a case that will end up in WTO (the World Trade Organization) Court. New World Order. Globalization. "Best thing since sliced bread not just for us but for the whole world." 
That's what they told us back around 1992-1993 when Clinton brought all the living Presidents to DC and had a big ceremony for those new trade agreements (Nafta and Gatt).
Here's what I think of those wonderful New World Order treaties: Hogwash. When a country signs on to one of those, they are giving their sovereignty away. Not only sovereignty, but they are more or less deep-sixing the Magna Carta. It's the biggest bait and switch known to man, pulled off by big multinational business corporations.
I believe what will happen now is the USA will bring suit against India in the WTO. India will lose and be fined into submission and be forced to allow our big pharma and their over-priced pharmaceuticals into their country.
chance of being taught a good lesson by someone who knows how to use their big stick to teach others a good lesson.
chance of being taught a good lesson by someone who has often used its big stick to teach others a good lesson.
