Grassroots AIDS work

An SGACer got a letter published in the Washington Times:

Martin Krause argues that compulsory licensing of inexpensive generic AIDS drugs decreases access to medicines ("Compulsory social responsibility," Commentary, Tuesday).

Using Brazil as an example, he asserts that forcing such firms as the U.S.-based Abbott Laboratories to lower their prices will reduce their subsequent investment in the research and development of new drugs. What the author ignores is that a large portion of pharmaceutical companies' research and development costs, including those of Abbott's AIDS drug, Norvir, are funded by federal taxpayer dollars — not the paltry profits from Latin American AIDS patients.

In 1980, Congress passed the Bayh-Dole Act, allowing inventors to retain ownership of drugs developed with federal grants. This act provides economic incentives for drug corporations to produce medicines, such as AIDS drugs, that are less profitable but enhance public welfare. These federal grants now finance 70 percent of R&D expenditures.

Should pharmaceutical companies be allowed to overcharge AIDS patients for drugs developed with our taxpayer dollars? Abbott is not waiting for the answer. The company increased Norvir's price by 400 percent in December 2003 and increased overall profits to $3.6 billion by 2004. Meanwhile, 5.5 million AIDS patients in need of immediate treatment await the generic drugs that could save them from an untimely death.

JESSICA LOVAAS
Williamstown, Mass.