Health law expert rips into TPP
By Dan Satherley
Wednesday 9 Mar 2016 10:29 a.m.
The recently signed Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) will "dramatically" restrict access to affordable medicine in every country that ratifies it, according to a US law expert.
Writing in scientific journal PLOS Medicine, Professor Brook Baker of the Northeastern University School of Law in Boston argues the TPP will:
lead to more patents being placed on new medicines
extend the length of new patents
restrict access to clinical trial data
prevent the introduction of new generic medicines
toughen penalties for patent infringements.
The TPP was signed at SkyCity in Auckland just over a month ago. Prime Minister John Key last year admitted New Zealand's drug-buying agency Pharmac may face some higher costs, but said they wouldn't be passed onto the public - promising prescriptions would stay at $5.
"If patents were to run a little bit longer, in theory the Government could pay a little bit more," he said in June. "But on the other side of it, if by signing the agreement we get a huge amount of revenue through increased economic activity, it's all balanced."
It could take up to a couple of years for each of the 12 signatories to ratify the TPP. Prof Baker says this time "must" be used to convince lawmakers to reject it.
Read more: http://www.newshub.co.nz/nznews/health-law-expert-rips-into-tpp-2016030910#ixzz42uNLw7yC
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