Why I am so obsessed with the TPP. I think it's the most important issue of the day

[suffragette]

47. "Trans-Pacific Trade Agreement Could Block Patient Access to Affordable Generic Medicines"

http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/press/release.cfm?id=6868
KUALA LUMPUR/NEW YORK, JULY 15, 2013—As negotiations for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) Agreement move to Malaysia this week, Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) urges negotiating countries to remove terms that could block people from accessing affordable medicines, choke off production of generic medicines, and constrain the ability of governments to pass laws in the interest of public health.

"Just prior to hosting an international AIDS conference two weeks ago, the Malaysian government made an important pledge to reject harmful provisions in the TPP trade deal that will increase medicine prices for Malaysians, who already pay some of the highest prices for HIV drugs among developing countries," said Judit Rius, US manager of MSF’s Access Campaign. "We need all negotiating countries, including the United States, to not only make the same strong public pledge to protect public health, but also to ensure that the technical details of the deal truly fulfil their principled commitments to global public health."

With negotiators under pressure to finalize a deal, time is running out to fix the flawed TPP agreement, which currently contains a number of United States proposals that will extend monopoly protection on high-priced pharmaceuticals and delay the entry of affordable generic medicines. Restrictive intellectual property provisions could seriously constrain the role that pharmaceutical producers across Asia currently play in providing affordable medicines to both developed and developing countries; for example, by putting up new patent barriers that restrict the production and distribution of generics.

“The critically important role that many Asian countries have in supplying both generic medicines and the active pharmaceutical ingredients needed to produce drugs, is in jeopardy because of new restrictions proposed in the TPP,” said Rius. “The TPP threatens to put a stranglehold on the world’s supply of affordable treatments, with dire consequences for patients, treatment providers, and pharmaceutical producers in developing countries.”

- See more at: http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/press/release.cfm?id=6868#sthash.kj8eWbgW.dpuf


My representative, Jim McDermott, has also expressed his concern about this in May 2013. Here's an excerpt:

http://www.rollcall.com/news/worlds_apart_making_sure_trade_policies_improve_global_health_commentary-225237-1.html?pg=1


At the beginning of TPP negotiations two years ago, for reasons that are unclear, the U.S. asked the other 10 countries to accept new and very rigid intellectual property measures that would greatly limit availability of the affordable generic medicines that the success of U.S.-supported global health programs require. For example, more than 98 percent of HIV/AIDS medicines used to fight AIDS in Africa are generics, mostly made in Asia.
The United States is currently party to many international agreements that include strong intellectual property protections. These agreements protect innovation, including 20-year patents on new drugs, but they also allow enough flexibility for poorer countries to respond to public health needs with accessible, low-cost drugs. We worked hard to get these rules in place and they are working well.
But the U.S.’ current TPP proposal on medicines upends the present well-structured balance by extending monopoly protections much further. It would force people in developing countries to wait longer for affordable medicines, if they can access them at all. It would extend patents beyond the current 20-year norm and block national regulators from using existing clinical trial data to approve the production of generic or “bio-similar” drugs.
Alarmingly, the proposal also outlaws “pre-grant opposition” that allows doctors and patients to provide information to their governments about patents they believe do not meet national rules, an important democratic safeguard. The proposal also requires the patenting of new versions of old medicines, even when the new versions offer no additional therapeutic benefits. It even requires patenting of surgical, therapeutic and diagnostic methods, which not only is unethical but also could increase medical liability and the cost of practice.