SupremeCourt

  • Subscribe to our RSS feed.
  • Twitter
  • StumbleUpon
  • Reddit
  • Facebook
  • Digg

Tuesday, December 18, 2012

SpicyIP Tidbit: It is time to test the claim of patient assistance programs by Big Pharma

Posted on 2:12 PM by Unknown
One of the constant refrains from Big Pharma companies involved in patent litigation against generic companies in India is that they are targeting only the prosperous middle class which can afford their drugs and not the poor of the country, to whom they supply their drugs free under their patient assistance programs. 

It is time somebody tested these claims by Big Pharma companies in India. Any Big Pharma company making such a claim in open court should be made to file an affidavit by its Managing Director testifying on oath, to the efficacy of the program and providing details on the exact number of patients receiving the drug under patient assistance program. Let us see how many managing directors file such affidavits detailing both the degree of ‘assistance’ and the number of patients who receive such assistance. I think Novartis filed such an affidavit for Glivec but I do not know of any other company which has filed an affidavit to this effect in any patent litigation in India. 

Unlike in the U.S. or Europe where Big Pharma companies openly advertise their patient assistance programs on their websites, you will be hard pressed to find similar information for Indian patients. Big Pharma should be made answerable for this discrepancy, since they are the ones who are making this claim. The only way Indian patients can access such programs in India is if their doctor makes a recommendation but given that Indian hospitals make super profits at the retail level by selling such drugs, they have little or no incentive to recommend that patients be put on assistance programs. 

Truth be told, most of these patient assistance programs are nothing but a fluffy public relations initiative. If these companies really wanted to make these programs effective, you would atleast find the telephone number of one of these assistance programs. Even the patient assistance programs that I am aware of are all discount ventures where you if you buy 90% of the doses, the remaining 10% are given free. At the very least patient assistance programs should take care of 50% of the cost that is not covered by an insurance program or presuming that there is no insurance, then 50% of the entire cost. 

Even that 10% is not guaranteed for the duration of your treatment. For instance, I know of one Big Pharma company, which after cutting the prices of one of its cancer drugs, followed it up by junking its patient assistance program on the grounds that its drugs were now cheaper and thus patients were no longer entitled to even the 10% discount that was given to them in the first place. 

You either have to be some kind of heartless moron or a rank idiot to tell cancer patients that they are no longer entitled for the 10% discount because of a price cut which reduced the price of a drug from its original platinum standard to a gold standard. Unfortunately, Big Pharmas subsidiaries in India have no qualms in enforcing such moronic policies. 

Like I have said before on this blog, I do not have any moral qualms about defending the idea of pharmaceutical patents. In a country like India, that puts me in the devils camp but even I have problems with blatant lies and misrepresentation by some of these pharmaceutical companies. If they want to enforce their patents, please go ahead and do it but don’t lie about your patient assistance programs. That is the least that these companies owe to cancer patients fighting for their lives.
Email ThisBlogThis!Share to XShare to FacebookShare to Pinterest
Posted in Pharma | No comments
Newer Post Older Post Home

0 comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)

Popular Posts

  • IPAB on Payyannur Ring
    [*S lightly long post] Background: The Intellectual Property Appellate Board (“ IPAB ”), in its recent order in SubhashJewellery v. Payyan...
  • Guest Post: Intermediary liability in defamation cases - Parle, Mouthshut & Visakha cases to clarify the law
    Chaitanya Ramachandran, who has blogged for us previously over here and here , has sent us this excellent guest post analyzing the extent of...
  • Delhi HC rejects the "Hot News" Doctrine: A Summary
    The applicability of the Hot News doctrine was rejected recently in a landmark ruling delivered by Justice Bhat of the Delhi HC. This post i...
  • IP Research Assistant position at IIT, Madras
    Feroz Ali Khader, MHRD IP Chair at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras, is looking for research assistants to work on various is...
  • Satyajit Ray's sketches and copyright controversies
    A copyright row appears to have started between the Satyajit Ray Society and the Delhi Art Gallery, that is organising a countrywide exhibit...
  • Dorling Kindersley v. Sanguine Technical Publishers
    A recent Delhi High Court order passed on 21 January, 2013  with respect to copyright licensing has come to our notice. An analysis of the j...
  • Call for Papers: IIT Bombay and MHRD jointly announce the 2nd International Conference on Management of Intellectual Property and Strategy
    The readers may be interested to know that the Shailesh J. Mehta School of Management of IIT Bombay is geared up to host, in collaboration w...
  • SpicyIP Tidbit: ALCS August Distribution
    In the UK, the Authors' Licensing and Collecting Society is an organization run and owned by writers that collects money due to its mem...
  • Aaron Swartz, RIP
    See Cory Doctorow's eulogy here Some of us in India may not have heard of Aaron Swartz, a 26 year old activist who was heavily involved ...
  • Thalappakatti biryani trademark row
    The southern district of Dindigal in Tamil Nadu occupies a special place in the hearts of biryani lovers. In the late 1950s, one Nagasamy N...

Categories

  • 126 (1)
  • 3(d) (4)
  • 3(f) (1)
  • 3(i) (1)
  • 3(k) (2)
  • Academic Writing (1)
  • access (10)
  • access to food (1)
  • access to health (3)
  • AIA (1)
  • AIDS/HIV (3)
  • Antitrust (2)
  • Bajaj v LML (1)
  • Basmati Row (2)
  • Biological Diversity (5)
  • Biologics (2)
  • biopiracy (4)
  • biotech (7)
  • Bollywood (25)
  • Broadcasters Rights (5)
  • Budget (1)
  • business method patent (2)
  • Call for papers (2)
  • Cipla (2)
  • Comparative Advertising (4)
  • Competition law (8)
  • Compulsory Licensing (27)
  • condonation of delay (1)
  • Conference (4)
  • Constitution (12)
  • Contracts (1)
  • Controller's decisions (8)
  • Copyright (112)
  • Copyright Amendment Bill 2010 (23)
  • copyright board (4)
  • Copyright Exceptions (6)
  • copyright office (1)
  • Copyright Rules (2013) (5)
  • Copyright Societies (9)
  • Counterfeiting (1)
  • creativity (1)
  • Cross Retaliation (1)
  • csir (4)
  • d (1)
  • D.U. Photocopy Case (16)
  • Darjeeling Tea (3)
  • Data Exclusivity (2)
  • Database (1)
  • DCGI (2)
  • decompilation (2)
  • defamation (9)
  • Designs (3)
  • Designs Act (3)
  • Differential Pricing (2)
  • Dilution (1)
  • Disabilities (3)
  • Disability (2)
  • DMCA (2)
  • Doha Declaration (1)
  • Domain Names (2)
  • Draft Policy of the Indian Government (2)
  • DRM (1)
  • Drug Regulation (7)
  • education (12)
  • Enercon (1)
  • Enforcement (1)
  • EU (2)
  • ex parte (2)
  • exhaustion (3)
  • Exhaustion of Rights (2)
  • Fair Dealing (8)
  • Fair Use (11)
  • Federal Circuit (1)
  • Fees (3)
  • FICCI (7)
  • FRAND (2)
  • free trade agreement (3)
  • FTA (3)
  • G.I. Registry (4)
  • gene sequences (3)
  • Generic medicine (4)
  • Geographical Indication (14)
  • Gilead (1)
  • Glenmark (5)
  • Gopika (34)
  • Guest post (11)
  • guidelines (1)
  • GWU-CII (1)
  • Herceptin (1)
  • hot news (3)
  • ICANN (1)
  • incremental innovation (1)
  • independence (1)
  • india (5)
  • Indian Government (1)
  • Indian patent litigation (27)
  • Indian Pharma (35)
  • Injunction (10)
  • Innovation (7)
  • INTA (1)
  • Intermediaries (10)
  • internet (11)
  • Internet Access Providers (IAPs) (5)
  • Internet Censorship (7)
  • IP scholarship (3)
  • IP aware (4)
  • IP Course (3)
  • IP Education (1)
  • IP Policy (11)
  • IP update (4)
  • ip writing competition (1)
  • IPAB (34)
  • ipchair (1)
  • IPO (1)
  • IPRS (5)
  • IT Act (1)
  • Journal (2)
  • judicial independence (3)
  • Jurisdiction (1)
  • Kruttika (4)
  • Legal Education (3)
  • Legal Research Tools (1)
  • Legal Scholarship (2)
  • library (2)
  • Licensing (7)
  • Madhulika (20)
  • mathematical methods (1)
  • Media law (3)
  • medical method (1)
  • Merck (4)
  • mhrd ip chair (1)
  • Microsoft (3)
  • Middle Path (1)
  • Moral Rights (2)
  • Movies (18)
  • musical work (2)
  • nanotechnology (1)
  • Natco (3)
  • natco defamation suit (5)
  • natco vs bayer (4)
  • need for transparency (1)
  • Novartis (8)
  • Novartis patent case in India (11)
  • NPEs (2)
  • nujs (1)
  • NUJS Conference (2)
  • Obituary (1)
  • obviousness (7)
  • Off-Topic (2)
  • online course (4)
  • Open Access (6)
  • Open Source (2)
  • Opposition (3)
  • Parallel Imports (4)
  • Parliament (1)
  • passing off (5)
  • Patent (52)
  • Patent act (10)
  • patent agent (5)
  • patent agent exam (9)
  • patent agent exam qualifications (3)
  • patent infringement (5)
  • Patent Licensing (2)
  • Patent litigation (2)
  • Patent Office (19)
  • patent pool (3)
  • Patent Prosecution (7)
  • Patent rules (2)
  • Patent Strategies (8)
  • Patents (9)
  • pegasus (1)
  • Personality Rights (1)
  • Pfizer (1)
  • Pharma (18)
  • Piracy (5)
  • plagiarism (3)
  • Plant Variety Protection (2)
  • post grant (1)
  • Prashant (2)
  • Preventive Detention (1)
  • Price Control (6)
  • prior publication (1)
  • Privacy (3)
  • Prizes (1)
  • public health (3)
  • Public Interest (4)
  • Publicity Rights (4)
  • Publishing (3)
  • radio (2)
  • Rajiv (18)
  • Rectification Petition (2)
  • Rejection (1)
  • research (3)
  • reverse engineering (2)
  • revocation (4)
  • rip (1)
  • Roche (2)
  • Roche vs Cipla (1)
  • Royalty (2)
  • RTI (2)
  • Scholarship (4)
  • section 16 (1)
  • Section 3(d) (7)
  • section 8 (6)
  • shamnad (11)
  • Shan Kohli (4)
  • Shouvik Kumar Guha (30)
  • Smartphones/Tablets (2)
  • Social Innovation (1)
  • Software (10)
  • software enforcement (3)
  • software patent (3)
  • Special 301 Report (1)
  • Spicy Tidbits (6)
  • spicyip (1)
  • SpicyIP Accolades (1)
  • SpicyIP Announcements (9)
  • SpicyIP Case (1)
  • SpicyIP Cases (3)
  • spicyip commiseration (1)
  • SpicyIP Events (11)
  • SpicyIP Fellowship (5)
  • SpicyIP Guest Series (22)
  • SpicyIP Interview (2)
  • SpicyIP Jobs (4)
  • SpicyIP Jobs/General (2)
  • SpicyIP Review (1)
  • SpicyIP Tidbits (11)
  • SpicyIP Weekly Review (27)
  • Statutory Licensing (1)
  • STI Policy 2013 (4)
  • Sugen (3)
  • Supreme Court of India (5)
  • Swaraj (19)
  • Tarnishment (1)
  • Technology (6)
  • Technology Transfer (5)
  • TKDL (5)
  • TPP (1)
  • trade (4)
  • Trade Secret Protection (1)
  • Trademark (59)
  • Trademark dilution (1)
  • Trademark Registry (9)
  • Traditional Knowledge (7)
  • Transparency (5)
  • treaty (1)
  • trial (1)
  • tribunals (2)
  • TRIPS (11)
  • UK (3)
  • unfair competition (5)
  • UNFCCC (1)
  • Universities Research and Innovation Bill (2)
  • US (1)
  • US Patent Reform (1)
  • US Supreme Court (3)
  • viva (3)
  • WIPO (5)
  • Working a Patent (2)
  • Workshop (4)
  • writ (1)
  • WTO (1)

Blog Archive

  • ►  2013 (364)
    • ►  September (13)
    • ►  August (41)
    • ►  July (36)
    • ►  June (36)
    • ►  May (32)
    • ►  April (51)
    • ►  March (66)
    • ►  February (40)
    • ►  January (49)
  • ▼  2012 (131)
    • ▼  December (29)
      • Spicy IP Weekly Review: December Week 4
      • Patent Office grants Polymorph Patent after reject...
      • Guest Post: Pharma patent developments in 2012 - A...
      • The IPO’s draft guidelines for biotechnology paten...
      • Off-topic: Lowering the Bar at the Delhi High Court
      • SpicyIP Events: The First NLS-TIOL Taxation Law Co...
      • Spicy IP Weekly Review: December Weeks 2 and 3
      • Filing rectification application under the GI Act,...
      • National Pharmaceutical Policy 2012
      • Royalty Payment by Subsidiaries: Bane of Minority ...
      • Guest Post: Traditional knowledge patent applicati...
      • Guest Post: Court rejects Apple’s motion for Perma...
      • SpicyIP Fellowship opened out to everyone interested
      • 'Not just a Trophy Treaty'
      • SpicyIP Tidbit: It is time to test the claim of pa...
      • American Court rules against confidentiality for C...
      • Divisional application practice before the Indian ...
      • Guest Post: A Step Forward and a Step Back for the...
      • November 2012: Controller's decisions at the IPO
      • Weekly Wrap (December Week 1)
      • SpicyIP Announcements: NLSIR Public Symposium on '...
      • First SpicyIP Fellowship
      • Single Bench judgment in Star India set aside
      • FICCI announces online certificate course on intel...
      • DU Photocopy Review: The Melody of Justice
      • Meeting on the Future of the Internet - Mired in l...
      • Guest Post: Beg to Differ
      • Legalising Tribunals: A Judicial Sell Out?
      • SpicyIP Tidbit: RSC puts forward excellent US Copy...
    • ►  November (42)
    • ►  October (50)
    • ►  September (10)
Powered by Blogger.