When you look into it, the parallels between pharma and fashion are disturbing:
The industry spends significantly more on marketing/lobbying than it does on R&D. Almost medicine patents are for nearly insignificant changes to an existing drug. Unlike copyright protection, which seems to be eternal nowadays, patents are still limited to 20 years. On top of this, medicines must be patented before trials begin (a lengthy process), so the patented lifespan of a medication is only around a decade. As with everything, you have to follow the money to see what's happening, and it really is all about brand awareness. One of the things that pharma lobby for is to get medicines made available OTC around the time their patent expires. Why? Because under a patent they can charge what they want, knowing that the threat of lawsuits will cause doctors to give the best treatment available for any condition, regardless of cost. (this all translates to higher insurance premiums by the way...) Once the patent has expired, they want individuals to shop for brands (i.e. nurofen instead of paracetamol/acetaminophen). If the brands are available OTC, then they're more accessible and so more will be sold. Hospitals/doctors, on the other hand, will begin prescribing the cheaper generic forms, knowing full well that you can't sue someone for not favouring a given brand when the chemical composition is identical. Given the cost of e.g. patented HIV treatments, I would argue that medicine patents also represent a net harm to society. If Pharmaceutical companies had to profit by genuinely innovating instead of patenting trivial changes and pushing brands, then I believe the world would be a better (and healthier) place. Interestingly, where we have national health insurance in Europe, you'll almost never see TV adverts or Billboards inviting you to ask your doctor about a particular medication... On 5 September 2010 13:45, Miroslav Pokorny <[email protected]>wrote: > That argument that fashion is a necessity and thus unpatentable sounds a > bit broken given a lot/most "modern" medicines are still patented and > expensive. IMHO I prefer to think that fashion (leaving out clothes with > extra ordinary functions like fire/waterproofing abilities) is not logical > and there is nothing to patent, when most year to year fashions merely > change colour, print or arrangement or recycling of past designs. > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "The Java Posse" group. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > [email protected]<javaposse%[email protected]> > . > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/javaposse?hl=en. > -- Kevin Wright mail / gtalk / msn : [email protected] pulse / skype: kev.lee.wright twitter: @thecoda -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "The Java Posse" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/javaposse?hl=en.
