# \[e-drug\] Study on tax subsidies for donations of expiring drugs **URL:** \ **Category:** e-drug\ **Created:** [April 11, 2002, 7:39am UTC](https://talk.edrugplus.org/t/e-drug-study-on-tax-subsidies-for-donations-of-expiring-drugs/14091 "2002-04-11T07:39:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 1\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![kirsten.myhr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/a587f6/32.png) [@kirsten.myhr](https://talk.edrugplus.org/u/kirsten.myhr)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2002, 7:39am UTC](https://talk.edrugplus.org/t/e-drug-study-on-tax-subsidies-for-donations-of-expiring-drugs/14091/1 "2002-04-11T07:39:08Z")
E-drug: Study on tax subsidies for donations of expiring drugs ------------------------------------------------------------------------- [Copied from Ip-health. With thanks. KM] Press Release: [http://www.waronwant.org/press/dd.htm](http://www.waronwant.org/press/dd.htm) Full Report: [http://www.waronwant.org/dd-report.pdf](http://www.waronwant.org/dd-report.pdf) Drugs for cash scandal exposed by Mark Thomas and War on Want New report launched to prevent Brown budget proposal leading UK down US path of taxpayer-subsidised corporate greed. New US-style tax breaks, to be announced in the forthcoming budget, could result in British drug companies such as GSK enjoying massive publicly funded subsidies for simply offloading out of date or dangerous medicines on the developing world. A new report, written by Channel 4's Mark Thomas and published by anti-poverty charity War on Want, reveals that US drug companies have been making money out of ridding their shelves of unsellable or out of date drugs while gaining kudos from 'charitable' donations to areas affected by humanitarian disasters. Under US tax law companies can claim back twice the cost of producing the drug. Given that inappropriate drugs are often unusable in the US, and cost money to destroy, this represents a substantial reward for clearing the shelves of unwanted stock. On April 17, as part of the budget, Gordon Brown will announce legislation to encourage drug donations. This is part of a package of incentives designed to encourage research into, and development of, new treatments for the three target diseases identified by the G8 and the United Nations: malaria, TB and AIDS. But there is concern that unless donations are regulated, tax concessions could result in the British taxpayer subsidising corporate shelf clearance. Mark Thomas said: "Drug dumping by the pharmaceutical industry increases the profits of drug companies and allows them to get rid of out of date, inappropriate, useless products that are dangerous and cost NGOs money on the ground to clear up. It's cynical, disruptive and a rip off." Nick Dearden, War on Want Campaigns' Officer, said: "We want drug companies to register their donations publicly so that their 'charitable' activities can be scrutinised. We also want donations to be determined by need, not by what companies want to shift off their shelves." A campaign was being launched on Mark Thomas' Channel 4 show April 3, calling for a publicly available register of drug donations. Mark Thomas and War on Want urge the Government to avoid the pitfalls of the US system, by ensuring that UK drug donations are regulated and beneficial to their recipients. We will also be urging that tax credits should be geared to providing the medicines needed on the ground. Donations should only be made based on the recipient country's essential drug list, or drugs specifically required for a given medical emergency. There should be no donations of out of date or short-dated drugs, and generic rather than brand name drugs should be provided. Furthermore, tax credits should only cover the cost of the donated product. During the famine appetite stimulants were dumped on Sudan by US drugs companies, while in Lithuania worming medicine meant for animals has temporarily blinded women. In Bosnia, so much useless stock was dumped on the refugee camps that �34 million had to be spent on incinerating it. Donated drugs are often out of date, not relevant to the emergency situation, unfamiliar to local medical practitioners, or unsorted and unlabelled. Notes for editors Contact Nick Dearden, War on Want Campaigns Officer, on 020 7620 1111 or 07932 335464 or Geoff Atkinson at Vera on 020 7436 6116 for more details and comment. For a copy of the report please contact Nick Dearden. War on Want is an anti-poverty and development charity that celebrated its 50th anniversary last year. Full details on the campaign are available on the War on Want website (www.waronwant.org). -- To send a message to E-Drug, write to: e-drug@usa.healthnet.org To subscribe or unsubscribe, write to: majordomo@usa.healthnet.org in the body of the message type: subscribe e-drug OR unsubscribe e-drug To contact a person, send a message to: e-drug-help@usa.healthnet.org Information and archives: [http://www.healthnet.org/programs/edrug.html](http://www.healthnet.org/programs/edrug.html)