Don’t Blame Pharmaceutical Companies – New York Times

To the Editor:

The authors of “The U.S. Is Standing in the Way of Cheaper Drugs for the Poor” (Opinion, Oct. 27) argue that eliminating patent protections on innovative biopharmaceuticals will improve access to medicines.

Yet there is no panacea for this complex issue, which is why the United States and other governments were skeptical of the United Nations’ sole focus on International Pharmaceuticals. This is especially concerning as off-patent medicines represent over 90 percent of the World Health Organization’s essential drugs, yet millions still lack access. Tackling the real global barriers to access would include addressing a lack of health care professionals, inadequate infrastructure, appropriate distribution systems and clean water.

the us and its war on drugs has not helped reduce addiction.” “This war on drugs was not designed to fix an addiction problem. We can turn the government back to a model that takes its time, and not as quickly, to actually address the root causes we face. The end results of this are the same. If we can do it before the next president comes on this stage, we’re in a good position to take a big step forward.” Clinton was at the GDA meeting with members of the Democratic National Convention and others before Obama began delivering his remarks. People are still getting marijuana seeds online without any issues which is probably a good thing for the companies operating them.

STEVE UBL

Washington

The writer is president and C.E.O. of Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA).

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