The Thai official who was responsible for negotiating with drugmakers and mysteriously transferred out of his job earlier this week plans to fight his removal, according to various reports from Bangkok. The job switch came amid pressure from pharma on the new Thai government to rescind the controversial policy of issuing compulsory licenses for widely used medications.

”I am still stunned by this sudden move. What is the real reason behind this so-called approriate reshuffle, as claimed by the minister?” former FDA secretary-general Siriwat Tiptaradol, during a press conference yesterday. He added that the reasons given by the new Health Minister, Chaiya Sasomsub, for the transfer to an inactive post, were vauge. Chaiya claimed the transfer was due to delays in FDA inquiries into coffee drinks with caffeine content beyond legal limits, contaminated home-brewed liquor and unhygienic imported pork offal.

Representatives of organizations including the Rural Doctors Club, HIV/AIDS groups and the Consumer Foundation yesterday rallied behind Siriwat. They laid a funeral wreath of artificial, or jan, flowers at the ministry, along with placards attacking Chaiya for his action.

In an editorial, The Bangkok Post wrote: “There are grounds to suspect that Dr Siriwat’s removal may be linked to the FDA’s stance on CL. Shortly after his appointment as public health minister, Mr Chaiya sparked an uproar when he announced he would review the CL on patented heart diseases and cancer drugs, claiming compulsory licensing might hurt Thai-US trade relations.

“Compulsory licensing of the cancer and heart disease drugs has made it possible for tens of thousands of patients to gain access to the life-saving drugs. With the proven benefits for patients in Thailand of CL implementation - which has also led to substantial price cuts for several key medicines by brand-name drug companies on a worldwide basis - it is questionable whether Minister Chaiya has the public’s interest at heart when he says he wants to have the CL reviewed, especially when the parties crying the loudest against the imposition of CL are foreign pharmaceutical producers and their Washington lobbyists.”