Life-saving drugs, may you never need them.

No need to lecture me about the system of governance we have. (arrogant)

out

“. . .Congress defining “collusion”. . . what a tragedy. . . .”

I am sure you are aware that Congress “defined” all of the patent law scheme.

Congress also “defined” much of the law that governs these settlement agreements.

So, it is really so surprising that the central function of. . . wait for it. . . Congress(!) — is to enact laws.

When laws become outdated, or reflect policy that is no longer deemed sound, Congress amends them.

Big Pharma has abused this particular gimmick so severely in the last five or so years, that it has no one to blame but istelf for these calls for legislation restricting the more egregious cases.

I also think your “poor pharma must spend so terribly much, for such a thin chance of an acceptable return” lament is just a little too-highly-schmaltzed — do be careful in picking your particular poison, DrugWatch.

“Methinks the lady doth protest too greatly. . . .”

Last I looked, big pharma was the one place, in all of industry, where none of the major players lost any money, last year. In fact, many posted near record profits — even during a financial collapse.

In short, I’m not buyin’ that snake-oil, bub!

Namaste

I *am* an attorney, and you were not out of line at all. However, my area of specialization is securities law, not antitrust law, so I have no special expertise here.

So what do we do? I remain unclear what arguments make paying-off generic cos. legitimate in the context of the intent of Hatch-Waxman.

Arkansas Carpenters Health and Welfare Fund v. Bayer AG

http://www.scotusblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/us-br-cipro-cta2.pdf

That’s what I get for trying to do something in a hurry. This is the Obama Justice Department new position on pay for delay.

http://www.justice.gov/atr/cases/f216300/216358.pdf

Why is congress ignoring follow-on-biologics:

“Teva [read: all generic manufacturers] supports reasonable legislation that would prevent abusive settlements, and we unequivocally support improved access to affordable quality care,” Teva North America CEO William Marth said in a statement. “This legislation would do neither. And it is perplexing that the FTC continues to hold media events and issue reports on this singular issue instead of drawing Congress’s attention to the lack of competition that will result from the excessive monopolies guaranteed to brand biologic makers in both the House- and Senate-passed healthcare bills.”

In the end, quality and life saving pharmaceuticals are made by dedicated, hard working scientists with that as their life’s objective. With a 1 in 10,000 chance of success at a billion dollars per chance, it is amazing we have a pharmaceutical industry at all.

Thanks for the note. In this case, I didn’t offer any comment or view of my own. I summarized the NYT story, but included the link to the entire piece so readers could glean whatever other info is contained.

That said, I understand your point and agree that these situations are not all as simple as a basic example may suggest. And so I apologize if, for any reason, the post appeared to have somehow missed the boat.

Regards
ed