"Bruce in Bangkok" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 13 Mar 2008 10:56:27 +0700, Bruce in Bangkok
wrote:

snip


In nearly all cases, I can buy a medicine cheaper here in Thailand
then in the U.S. and these are imported medicines. If they are made
locally it is about 1/10th the price.

Of course. You're larded with "compulsory licensing." That is, the Thai
government gives your pharma industry a license for pirating. d8-)

Sorry, incorrect. the Thai government is discussing the CL question
with one or two drug companies but there has been no decision.
According to the pharmaceutical department of Chulalongkorn University
(the most prestigious school in the country) all current drugs covered
by copyright or patent are imported from the makers, or their licensed
representatives. (they operate a extremely well stocked pharmacy in
the heart of Bangkok so they are easy to talk to).

Sorry again. Just after I posted the above I read the newspaper. It
appears that contrary to previous printed reports the government HAS
decided to allow the manufacture of patented medicines under a
"Compulsory Licensing" (CL) law.

The article goes o to say that the EU confirmed the legality of
Thailand's action and it was allowed by WTO rules.

I wouldn't believe *that* one, either. d8-)

This is not something that we want to get into, I think, unless you really
like getting tangled in the pharma business. CLs are a political hot potato,
but, by any definition, they're legalized piracy. Some people think the
piracy is OK. Most of us don't. When Thailand pirates a patent, we pay even
more in the US. This doesn't bother the EU, because they've already squeezed
their prices out with price controls so that the US is the only place one
can make up the loss.

If you want to hear a squeel, try renegotiating a drug price in France to
pay for a patent loss in Thailand, after France votes to allow the CL...ha!

--
Ed Huntress