E-drug: Patents and Access to drugs (cont'd)
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Patents have been a controversial issue in Canada for at least the
last 40 years. In the 1960s a federal committee on restrictive trade
practices recommended that patents be vested in the public if
public funding was involved in the discovery. The government
didn't take such a radical step, but did introduce compulsory
licensing. Under this regime, many generic drugs were available 5
to 7 years after the patent was granted, helping to support a
domestic industry and, more importantly, support access to
necessary drugs. In 1987 the Mulroney government abandoned
Canada's commitment to compulsory licensing and moved to
extend the term of the patent period to 20 years. The shift in policy
was in large measure a result of liberalized trade (FTA and NAFTA)
within North America and subsequently the TRIPS agreement. Not
only has this contributed substantially to a rise in the cost of
prescription medicines here -- estimated to have risen by more than
226% from 1985 to 1998 -- but it also provided favourable
treatment to foreign, mainly US-based, pharmaceutical monopolies
who compete with domestic generic manufacturers.
This is by way of saying that Canadians have not just discovered
the disadvantages associated with rigid patent regimes in the last
month.
Colleen Fuller
PharmaWatch Canada
e-mail: cfuller@telus.net
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