Put de dime in de coconut and call me in the morning

Thailand Risks Losing Investments From U.S. on Patents Dispute By Anuchit Nguyen

Thailand risks losing investments by U.S. companies after the junta-installed government decided to break patents on some drugs, said Daniel Christman, senior vice president of the U.S. Chamber Commerce.



Christman also met with Finance Minister Chalongphob Sussangkarn and Commerce Minister Krirk-krai Jirapaet to express his concern about the government's capital controls and proposed changes in foreign business law, he said

Thailand's Health Ministry said in January it will make generic versions of efavirenz, Bristol-Myers Squibb Co.'s HIV treatment marketed as Sustiva, and clopidogrel, Bristol-Myers and Sanofi- Aventis SA's heart medicine marketed as Plavix. The ministry previously said it would also make generic versions of Abbott Laboratories' Kaletra, another AIDS medicine.

This is the first time a government has invoked so-called compulsory licensing to treat an ongoing health problem. The licensing is invoked by the state in the case of a drug being needed to save lives in emergency situations, previously reserved for extremes such as wars and pandemics. Drug companies are concerned the move will set a precedent for other nations.

The government decided on compulsory licensing because it's concerned about Thai lives and wants to increase the availability of drugs to low-income patients, Supan Srithanma, spokesman of the health ministry, said in a phone interview today.

Indonesia warns vaccine inequity could threaten world peace

The inability of poor countries to get vaccines in the event of an influenza pandemic could threaten world peace, Indonesia's health minister said on Wednesday.

Siti Fadilah Supari said the virus-sharing scheme under the World Health Organization system did not guarantee poor countries access to vaccines and urged developed countries to help the developing world with the technology to produce them.

Indonesia, the nation worst hit by avian influenza with 66 deaths, has created a controversy by saying it will only share samples of the H5N1 avian influenza virus if it has guarantees they will not be used to make vaccines that will profit a company or another country.

Some health and aid agencies criticized Indonesia for refusing to share samples, while others defended the stance because developing countries often struggle to get access to life-saving drugs due to patent laws and high costs.

Sharing of virus samples is crucial as it allows experts to study their make-up and map the evolution and geographical spread of any particular strain. Samples are also used to make vaccines.

WHO and health ministers from the Asia-Pacific region are due to meet in the Indonesian capital, Jakarta, from March 26-27 to sort out the best ways of making sure companies can make more vaccines against influenza, and that these vaccines will be available to all who need them.

Few companies make vaccines, and total world capacity is only about 300 million to 400 million doses of vaccine a year -- far below what would be needed in a pandemic.

State Oversight of Industry Gifts to Physicians All Bark By Peggy Peck

Troyen A. Brennan, M.D., M.P.H., of Aetna, Inc., in Hartford and Michelle M. Mello, M.Phil., Ph.D., J.D., of Harvard School of Public Health, said there is a growing sentiment among physicians and hospital executives that "too much money is spent on marketing drugs and that the public has particular unease about off-label promotion."

But the study by Dr. Ross and colleagues suggested that pharmaceutical companies are turning a deaf ear to those concerns, they wrote in an accompanied JAMA editorial.

Drs. Brennan and Mello credited the pharmaceutical companies with "profound contributions to medical therapy and public health," but they pointed out that the companies are for-profit industries. "Their primary commitment is to create shareholder value, not maintain an altruistic commitment to patients," they wrote.

Johnson's answer to criticism about marketing was the contention that the editorial writers failed to realize that pharmaceutical marketing accounts for only about 10 cents of every health care dollar.