human life IP in the short run (Score 1)

I've seen a number of posts stating why violating IP protections with medical r&d is bad in terms of halting future development. The point that people miss is that the drug companies have made a significant amount of money selling AIDS drugs in the US and in other countries that can afford them. I'm not sure if they've recovered their R&D costs entirely, but its a pretty good possibility that they have.

The important distinction to make is that Brazil isn't making their own AIDS drugs because they don't WANT to pay for the legit ones. They are doing so because they CAN'T afford the insanely expensive medications. In reality, I don't think that the drug companies are losing much money because countries like Brazil couldn't afford to buy the drugs at market price anyway. Its not a question of name brand AIDS drugs or cheaper homegrown ones. Its a question of homegrown AIDS drugs or no AIDS drugs.

This is where I think the idea of eminent domain and IP are really important. The drug companies have done a service to the world by creating AIDS drugs that save lives and help slow the epidemic in developing nations. Unfortunately, they are profit-making ventures, and producing those drugs cost money. I agree that they should be compensated for their efforts and expense. However, the first priority should be saving human lives. We should worry about distributing these absoutely neccessary drugs where they are needed first, and about paying the drug companies later. Still, in order to continue development, we need to somehow ensure that the drug companies get compensated. This is where organizations such as the IMF, WTO, UN, and other governmental organizations should foot the bill for the R&D. I think they should develop some policy for seizing the IP of the companies and fairly compensating them for it. At the same time, they need to ensure that it is clearly defined when a country can violate IP. If a country can afford to buy the drugs at fair market prices, they should. Similarly, if a country is financially mismanaged, these organizations need to help these countries develop more stable governments with more sound (and less corrupt) fiscal practices so that they wil some day be able to participate in global markets. Simply burrying countries deeper and deeper in debt (as is the current practice of the IMF) doesn't do anything for the developing nations. The drug companies might not make as much money as they would like, but this way they won't lose money. It might not be totally fair for the companies, but in the end, human life is more important than IP.

As and addendum, some hard asses that have posted are suggesting that the AIDS epidemic is the fault of individuals who participate in unsafe behavior. While this is certainly the case in some instances, particularly given the lack of education in the third world, it is important to note that most of the developing nations with AIDS epidemics have huge pediatric AIDS problems as well. Certainly young children who contract AIDS from their mothers are not responsible for their terrible disease. I think that the interests of children alone provide a good enough warrant for Brazil's actions.