Word: generic
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...months ago, a friend complained that my columns were too focused on AIDS. He told me to mix it up more. Well, I’ve tried, and I’ve failed—the Bush administration’s recent efforts to block access to cheap generic AIDS medications are simply too shameless to ignore. But I don’t want to pigeonhole this story as just an “AIDS” issue. Think of it as the ultimate Bush administration case study: an inside look at how a cynical White House policy is undermining...
...AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). One of PEPFAR’s central planks is treatment, namely putting 2 million people onto anti-retroviral AIDS medicines by 2008. But not all anti-retrovirals are created equal. Today, the administration faces a critical choice—whether to allow PEPFAR grantees to purchase generic three-in-one fixed dose combination (FDCs) therapies...
...rights, the choice should be simple—generic FDCs have significant advantages over the brand-name alternatives. First and foremost, they are much cheaper. The group Médecins Sans Frontières currently procures generic FDCs for its treatment programs at a cost of about $280 per patient per year. By contrast, the cheapest brand name anti-retrovirals sell for $562, or twice as much. This gap will soon double—the Clinton Foundation last month negotiated an agreement with generic manufacturers to supply FDCs to developing nations for as little as $140 per year. If these...
...despite these compelling advantages, the Bush administration refuses to authorize the purchase of FDCs. This is a little suspicious—the pharmaceutical industry is a huge contributor to and close ally of President Bush, and they stand to lose big if he green-lights generic FDCs. In addition to losing lucrative contracts, they fear that their long-term profit margins will suffer if generic manufacturers continue to gain greater international legitimacy and clout...
...let’s not get carried away by conspiracy theories. The administration’s opposition to FDCs is surely driven by nobler aims. Testifying before Congress, the President’s Global AIDS Coordinator Randall L. Tobias, asserted that generic AIDS drugs “may well be perfectly safe and perfectly effective...and then again, they may not be. The problem is, there is no process, no principles, no standards in place today, from a regulatory point of view, to make that assurance.” A compelling argument, if only it were true. Tobias?...