US plays nice guy nasty guy to Thailand

NASTY

"Moves in the US against Thailand - Bangkok Post
Bangkok targeted over breaking drug patents

A Republican congressman in the United States has called on President George W. Bush to suspend Thailand's status as a major non-Nato ally pending proof of the restoration of democracy in the kingdom. Mark Kirk submitted a bill to this effect amid sustained lobbying in the US against Thailand's overriding of patents for medicines to treat HIV/Aids and heart disease.

''Eight months after the military coup, despite promises by the military leaders to the contrary, Thailand still has not drafted a permanent constitution, held a referendum, or called elections,'' Mr Kirk said in the proposal which he tabled on May 17. The US President should ''terminate Thailand's status as a major non-Nato ally until he can certify to the Congress that democracy has been restored to the country,'' Mr Kirk said in further remarks to the speaker. He said he was ''introducing the Thailand Democracy Act of 2007 to push Thailand's military government to hold democratic elections''.

Thailand was designated a major non-Nato ally on Dec 30, 2003.

The status makes the country eligible for several benefits related to the purchase and maintenance of arms from the US, training, and participation in counter-terrorism activities.

Meanwhile, James V. deLong, special counsel to law firm Kamlet Shepherd & Reichert, deplored what he called '' a campaign of intellectual property theft'' by the government of Thailand. In a letter to four US government figures, he called on them to look into the matter and to ''act swiftly using any and all available political and policy tools at your disposal''. The letters were addressed to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez, Secretary of Health and Human Services Michael Leavitt, and US Trade Representative Susan Schwab.

In a separate move, the Washington-based Hundson Institute has sent a letter to the World Health Organisation's director-general, Margaret Chan, demanding the WHO ''investigate important quality and safety issues pertaining to HIV/Aids treatment in Thailand''.

Institute director Jeremiah Norris wrote: ''Thai patients deserve to be informed of the health consequences inherent in current treatment regimens, especially through the use of an anti-retroviral drug, GPO-VIR.'' He urged the WHO chief to sponsor an independent evaluation of GPO-VIR to prove that it is as safe and efficient as the Government Pharmaceutical Organisation, the drug's manufacturer, claims. The letter was also addressed to the secretary of the US Department of Health and Human Services, Thai Public Health Minister Mongkol na Songkhla, and Suwit Wibulpolprasert, the Thai representative to the WHO.

This follows a recent move by American lobby group USA for Innovation, which published full-page advertisements in Thai newspapers claiming the locally-made GPO-VIR had an unusually high resistance rate among patients using it. The advertisements prompted the GPO to file a libel charge against the lobbyist on May 15."

Bangkok Post

NICE

"US ENVOY WANTS TO HEAL RIFT - Bangkok Post

Thailand's issuing of compulsory licences to bypass patents on Aids and heart drugs has rattled the multi-billion dollar pharmaceuticals business. The country has been closely watched, particularly by American firms holding patents, and by the US administration.

US ambassador to Thailand Ralph Boyce reflected on the issue in an interview with Apiradee Treerutkuarkul. Following are excerpts from the interview.

What is the US view of Thailand's announcement of compulsory licensing (CL)?
We understand Thailand's rights under Trips [the agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights] to use compulsory licensing. But it was meant to be the last measure. As far as the embassy is concerned, in terms of transparency, we did not have much advance notice at all that Thailand was going to go ahead with compulsory licensing. The public health minister said publicly that Thailand had tried to get drug companies' attention for two years. That is the minister's statement, but all I can say is that we at the embassy did not have any real warning that it was coming. And the spirit of the Trips agreement is that a compulsory licence is like the last option, and the preferred order of things is the country and the drug companies [first] try to negotiate a mutually acceptable price. Our preferred outcome [for the] US government is that Abbott [Laboratories] and the Ministry of Public Health come up with a mutually acceptable price, because the key here is finding the balance between the high cost of financing innovation and next-generation drugs and the need to be able to provide those drugs to poor people who are suffering from life-threatening diseases. Compulsory licensing is one way to do that, but it is hopefully the measure you use [after] trying everything else first.

Why was there doubt over the transparency of the process in the latest special 301 report of the Office of the US Trade Representative?

As for the special 301 report in which Thailand has been elevated to the Priority Watch List (PWL), what I want to make clear is that the decision was based on the whole spectrum of intellectual property rights (IPR), not just on the CL issue. In fact, the CL issue was just one among many concerns ranging from DVDs, music CDs, books, software and brand-name apparel. Had there not been a flap about CL, I suspect that Thailand would have been elevated to the PWL anyway because we have been hearing from both Thai and American intellectual property rights holders in Thailand that the situation in terms of enforcement has been getting worse. The flap over CL caused most people to conclude that it must be a form of retaliation. It is a timing issue more than anything. I believe that with the overall IPR problems in Thailand, even without CL there still would have been a decision [to put Thailand on the] PWL.

What is the stance of the US on balancing protection of intellectual property rights and humanitarian needs, especially on the issue of access to drugs in developing countries, including Thailand?

Frankly, there are extreme views on both sides. We all know about some of the publications like the Adelman article [in the Washington Times] in the US. Some charges and allegations have been made against the pharmaceuticals industry here.

As usual, the truth lies somewhere in-between ... The humanitarian issues are important and the Clinton Foundation's announcement that it would create a stockpile of drugs for 16 countries including Thailand, where they could make available expensive drugs for the poor, is a good example of creativity that is very useful in finding that balance, because the companies have to spend massive amounts of money to create an innovation and come up with new drugs to help people who need them. Are they supposed to bear the full burden? Are their stock holders supposed to bear the whole burden of the cost of the research, etc? There is an issue of subsidies, and whether some of the medicines should be subsidised by the governments of the countries. So there are a lot of different ways to do this, rather than looking at it in just black and white.

You also had an opportunity to bring pharmaceutical companies to meet the public health minister? What was that all about?

The role of the US government is to try to facilitate conversation and negotiation, striking the balance, suggesting creative ideas, etc. The only thing the embassy was doing in bringing some of the pharmaceutical companies to meet the previous minister [Phinij Jarusombat] was providing the opportunity for the ministry to hear from the companies. The role of the embassy was not advocacy on that particular issue, but simply door-opening. We do this for a number of ministers and a number of different sectors.

Facilitation of communication between American companies and the Royal Thai Government in every sector is one of the most important roles of the embassy. The more conversations and communication the better, as far as I am concerned....."

Full article : http://www.bangkokpost.net/News/22May2007_news18.php

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The bill proposed by Congressman Kirk is a big nothing. It hasn't even gone to committee yet and I'll bet you it will never get out of committee. From the website Govtrack.us
"...Mark Kirk has sponsored 59 bills since Jan 3, 2001, of which 52 haven't made it out of committee (Average) and 0 were successfully enacted...."
Not exactly a major star in Washington. He doesn't even have any cosponsers to the bill.
If you're intrested in tracking this check out www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h110-2382

Now what his motive is in introducing the bill I couldn't say. Maybe a major constituent has an intrest? Are there a lot of Thais in his district? Maybe there is a major pharmecutical plant in his district? He could even be introducing it on behalf of another congressman who wants his connections kept secret. You have to ask yourself why someone would introduce dead legeslation in order to take a poke at another country.

[Aunty]

Thailand has broken the rules by stealing property that does not belong to it, and by not following due process which allows it to do that in times of geniune emergency. And there will be a consequence to Thailand for Thailand's theft.

And all your commie-pinko socialist hand-wringing, wailing and gnashing of the teeth is not going to change that.

Guys,

Thailand is supposed to be past masters of compromise. So, Why didn't they try and find a solution by pressure and negotiation.

Whichever way you look at it, it is theft. Thailand would not and does not like anything being done to them in any way, shape or form.

They have and do openly show scant disregard for patent and copywright, which many of you as visitors to Thailand have and will see.

I am no fan of Bush or Blair, but this is plain and simple, Black and White, THEFT.

There are procedures and guidelines laid down in the event of catastrophes and emergencies, these were not put forward or into practice or given as reasons for breaking international rules.

This is an extremely contentious issue, and I fully get the arguments for the pain and suffering of those who can't afford the costs.

The Governments responsibilities are to place these humanitarian issues at the top of their agendas and deal with them.

Instead, they are too busy playing "He said, She said," with past administrations.

[ikarus]

I totally agree with Aunty and I am quite surprised by WOWPAO anti-american stance.
As it was mentioned many times, Thailand could easily pay for needed Aids drugs by small fraction of a huge increase of its military budget. I completely agree with position of Gutierez:
Abbot is not responsible for Aids crisis in Thailand. When khun Thaksin introduced important government programs (after many years of Thai government doing nothing to help people with HIV), he also paid for it.

Thailand broke no laws. The US had already agreed with the WTO that poor and emerging countries could reproduce essential drugs avoiding the patent. So calling it theft is ludicrous. Now some in the US (not the Government ) are wriggling to try and get out of what it agreed saying "Oh that was supposed to be for emergency use" how on earth do you suddenly start to produce drugs in an emergency. Is AIDS NOT and emergency.

There is a problem which the World needs to tackle in that the laboratories of the West produce miracle drugs at great cost in research and development. They also make vast profits and have been known to overcharge tremendously for drugs until Governments have pressured them to be reasonable.

The Simplistic say - they invented it. It is theirs and they can charge what they like. If you can't afford it and you die then that's bad luck.

The Saints say - you are lucky to have the facilities to find these life saving drugs and should make money out of those who can afford them and let those who cannot have them at what they can afford in order to reduce deaths and misery.

Let's just have a little look at some figures from the CIA World Handbook to put things into proportion.

Persons living with AIDS US 950,000 - Thailand 570,000
Persons died of Aids US 17,011 - Thailand 58,000

GDP US $12,980,000,000,000 Thailand 585,900,000,000
The US is 20% of the whole World economy.

% GDP spent of military US 4.06 - Thailand 1.80

Population US 301 million - Thailand 65 million

GDP per capita US$43,500 - Thailand US$9,100

Abbott Laboratories 2006 in US$ Millions - profits up 4.2%


We have seen what happens when market forces are allowed to run free. South Africa just could not afford the drugs and people died in droves - yes there were other reasons but lack of drugs was the main one. International moral outrage forced the drug companies to allow their drugs to be suppled at a fraction of the previous price and agree to generics being supplied from India. There was no massive drop in the drug companies profits.

Let's not get too the up about the current situation with Abbott Laboratories . This is only a minor skirmish in the efforts to sort out an equitable solution. The problems are who pays for research and how many deaths per $ profit is reasonable.

[ikarus]

http://Wowpow,<br /> You completely...ry? ABSOLUTELY

[Aunty]

Oh stop indulging yourself, Tinkerbell. This is not only about Thailand's theft of HIV drugs, they have also stolen heart medication. Where's the public health emergency in that? All modern developed countries have high rates of heart disease, and guess what, twinkle-toes, that's a lifestyle thing of too much unhealthy eating. Instead of ripping off long suffering drug companies perhaps Thailand could invest some of its abundant resources in a proper health care system that educates its people on how to improve/maintain their health. Or is it just easier to cry poor and play victim and rip of the West? Sounds like the boy special ringing up his farang asking for urgent money to replace his 'stolen' cell phone - the phone he pawned to buy yabba or gamble with. It's easier to rip off the farang, than to attend to his own deficiencies. Ikarus is right. Thailand is to blame for its apalling HIV/AIDS stats, not the West's drug companies.

Of course, drug companies are just monstrous dishonest devouring businesses engorged on the profits they take from suffering patients with serious disease. Any chance they get to jack up their prices they do. Bastards. It's not like they ever have a set back you know, or something goes wrong which could cost them billions of dollars.




NZ Herald - http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story ... d=10441177


Glaxo shares slump on heart scare

Wednesday May 23, 2007
Stephen Foley


GlaxoSmithKline, Europe's biggest drug-maker, is racing to shore up confidence in one of its most important medicines after a study in a respected US journal suggested that it dramatically increased the risks of having a heart attack.

The drug in question, Avandia, is taken by millions of Americans and others around the world who suffer from diabetes.

It contributed ┬г414 million ($1.1 billion) to GSK's sales in the first three months of this year.

A study published this week by the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) analysed all the previously published data from studies of Avandia and calculated that taking the drug increases the chance of having a heart attack by 43 per cent.

The increase in the risk of having a fatal heart attack was even higher.

GSK immediately questioned the methodology of the study, which was conducted by Steven Nissen, a cardiologist at the respected Cleveland Clinic in Ohio - but more than US$10 billion ($13.7 billion) was wiped off the value of the company in afternoon trading in the US in the wake of the study.

A GSK statement said the study was based on incomplete evidence and a methodology that the author admits has significant limitations.

The company said: "The NEJM paper is based on an analysis of summary information that combines a number of studies, which is not the most rigorous way to reach definite conclusions about adverse events.

"Each study is designed differently and looks at unique questions: for example, individual studies vary in size and length, in the type of patients who participated, and in the outcomes they investigate.

"The data compiled from these varied studies is complex and can be conflicting."

A spokesman for GSK said that it was conducting numerous long-term studies of Avandia, all of them being overseen by independent safety monitors. None of the monitors had flagged any safety concerns, he said.

Avandia is used to treat Type 2 diabetes, the most common form of the disease, which is linked to obesity. Avandia helps sensitise the body to insulin and was considered a breakthrough for blood-sugar control.

GSK also sells pills that combine the active ingredients in Avandia with other drugs, marketing them under the brands Avandamet and Avandaryl.

"Unfortunately, [Avandia] appears to increase, rather than decrease, the most serious complication of diabetes, heart disease," Nissen wrote.

"Unless this can be refuted, which I rather doubt, then this is going to seriously damage one of the cornerstones of Glaxo going forward," said Paul Diggle, an industry analyst at Nomura Code Securities in London.

- INDEPENDENT

its like the US constition , i maybe be wrong here as im not a yank

goverment of the people , by the people, for the people In thailand its goverment of the people by the rich to surpress the poor

[Hmmm]

We're going over old ground here comrades. The forces of evil and their lazy apologists have already been exposed ....

http://www.sawatdee-gay-thailand.com/fo ... 11474.html

If you think that poor Thai AIDs sufferers should bear the brunt of arguments about how much profit is enough for a multi-billion dollar company's shareholders to bask in, or what proportion of GDP is reasonable for the US and Thai governments to spend on military hardware rather than health care, then you're a different man than I am Gunga Din.