India says no to cancer patent
India’s Supreme Court has rejected a plea by Novartis to patent an updated version of its cancer drug, Glivec.
Patents mean that cheap (affordable) life-saving medicine cannot be legally reproduced, meaning many people around the world die from curable or treatable illnesses because they can’t afford the drugs.
These pharmaceutical companies are a direct spawn of capitalism, the painful reality, no money, you die.
Of course these companies retort with the same capitalist mantra, if you don’t allow patents, we’ll stop researching new drugs.
Sound familiar?
If you increase corporate tax, we’ll move our HQ to another country.
A pathetic attempt by big businesses to blackmail people into doing whatever they want, for their own gain, profit before people.
We cannot rely on capitalist governments and politicians to be strong against these companies, those people, the politicians and business people are all the same, in bed with each other to benefit the minority, while the majority continue to pay the price.
Good on India for saying no. Enough is enough.
