Can you explain what sort of delivery system was patented? On Sun, Jul 30, 2006 at 10:15:46AM -0400, Hari Kumar wrote: > Date: Sat, 29 Jul 2006 07:51:32 -0700 > From: Michael Perelman <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Hari, are you saying that NO was patented? Tell me more!!! > > REPLY > Indeed, it is amazing is it not? A naturally occuring chemical is 'patented'. > > The legal aspect of this (apparently - I am not a lawyer) was argued that the > 'delivery system' of the iNO - & the intent to treat infants with PPHN - was > what really counted. > > The bottom line remained that it was the gas, and > the rest was a manouevre. > The US courts upheld this. There was a rival company to the patent holder, > who lsot big-time on this. > > The Canadians were simply too dim to be watching this, & the first US company > quickly filed a Canadian patent. > > By the time interested clinicians realised what was happening, it was almost > too late - since there is a limited time-span to register a disagreement. The > Canadians had a potential exit clause - IF they could prove a notion known as > 'prior art'. > > However 'prior art' could not be shown in an exhaustive search of the medical > literature. Of course that is hardly surpising, since all the > interest in iNO coincided with one peer-reviewed paper. > > Attempts to invoke EEC precedent in Canada foundered on the US case-law. > > There is an awful lot of complicity about the process, between the regulatory > agencies in Canada & the big companies. In my own view at any rate. > > It is unclear what is happening now regarding the affect of this on practice. > Since meta-analysis confirms the very useful role of iNO in PPHN - I think if > hospital managers crimp its use, this is going to result in malpractice suits > (rightly - if it is PPHN as the diagnosis). > Opening the envelope of iNO to prematures is an interesting twist to all this. > > Hari Kumar
-- Michael Perelman Economics Department California State University Chico, CA 95929 Tel. 530-898-5321 E-Mail michael at ecst.csuchico.edu
