In the United States any person or organization can patent an
invention or original concept for a period of 17 years during which time
the idea or the product cannot be duplicated, manufactured or sold by
anybody else other than the patent holder. Patenting has been sorely abused
as many drug manufacturers have literally monopolized the market by
obtaining patents for important life saving drugs. Patenting creates a
monopolistic market scenario in which the patentee who enjoys a competition
free market dictates the price of the drugs. Invariably these drugs are
priced very high and it is the consumers who are affected the most.
While we cannot neglect the fact that the patentee has spent millions
of dollars in research and development of the drug we cannot totally ignore
the consequences for the consumers as well. The swelling prices of
prescription drugs are definitely forcing us to thinkover alternative
options and importing cheaper drugs are certainly a choice to be
considered. The government formulated the MEDSA (Medicine Equity and drug
safety act) to facilitate the import of cheaper drugs from other countries
but owing to safety considerations the act is yet to be enacted. There are
arguments that the cost that will be incurred by FDA in testing and
approving these gray goods would minimize any potential benefit for the U.S
So with MEDSA yet to be implemented the domination of the monopolies
continues. What's even more alarming is that Patentee's go out of the way
to delay the generic drugs from coming to the markets. A case in example is
Paxil' a drug that continues to earn huge profits for GlaxoSmithKline.
The company has made serious infringements and has managed to freeze any
competition by obtaining new patents for the various ingredients in the
drug. Market statistics indicate that Paxil continues to earn $4.4 million
...