Drugs for sale

In Brazil and the United States there is a law that allows the government to require pharmaceutical companies to license patents to other companies during times of national crisis. The companies in turn will locally produce generic versions of these drugs to distribute to people. In this manner it has come about that the Brazilian effort to combat AIDS is one of the most successful in the world. The Brazilian government's action in this area is applaudable.

To allow people to suffer when there are drugs available to combat a disease is unacceptable. The Brazilian government has made available - free of charge - medication to help with symptoms of people who are HIV positive. This distribution has lowered the cost of the drugs and the instances of death from AIDS.

Although this system is good in theory, it also places the government and pharmaceutical companies in a precarious position. If the government does this often enough, it will drive pharmaceutical companies from the country, making it much harder for people to get the medicines. Because the companies are losing money in the country, they may also pull out their manufacturing operations, leaving only local manufacturers. The local manufacturers who have been surviving by mass-producing generic medicines will be left without new products to produce, and when new medicines are discovered they will not be able to produce them. This will cause drug prices to rise again, as they are imported from the U.S. and other countries.

Though the measure is good in that it does not allow drug companies to hold people ransom by charging high prices for needed medicines, it also places relations between drug companies and nations under stress because of the fear of abuse.