From: Samantha Atkins (samantha@objectent.com)
Date: Thu Jun 06 2002 - 14:24:06 MDT
There have been instances of specifically going against free
market practices to prevent cheaper manufacturers of certain
life saving drugs (quite legal manufacturers) from competing in
African markets. There is nothing terribly complex about the
death toll from that or it being against libertariran and other
principles to do this. Some of the drugs in question were not
invented by a long process of this kind. Variations on existing
drugs were patented and made to monopolize treadment in the
regions effected. While the general story is more complex this
does not get rid of such cases of out and out abuse and pure
greed on a massively deadly scale.
- samantha
Dickey, Michael F wrote:
> From: Samantha Atkins [mailto:samantha@objectent.com]
>
> "This is greed and should be "patently" and otherwise illegal.
> There have been much worse instances. Millions have died,
> especially in the third world because of some of the incidents.
> There can be no moral/political justification of such results.
> As immortality seekers I would expect that all of us stand
> apalled at needless deaths just to increas profits."
>
> Of course, Samantha, the issue is more complex than that and the common
> counterargument to this is that these drugs would have never even existed in
> the first place if pharmaceutical companies hadnt invested in the 400 - 500
> million dollars the typical drug costs to find, test, trial, and approve in
> hopes of making a profit off of it. The profit motive is the motive that
> leads to the invention of the drug in the first place. If you take away the
> incentive that the pharma companies have to make drugs, who is going to make
> them?
>
> Michael
>
>
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