Mashelkar report draws health activists' ire

[Guest guest]

Mashelkar draws health activists' ire

Nitin Sethi. [24 Feb, 2007 0242hrs ISTTIMES NEWS NETWORK ]

NEW DELHI: There's bad plagiarism and there's good. And those arguing against

the first are waving the second as a major triumph.

Former CSIR chief R A Mashelkar's verbatim insertion of arguments from a

pro-industry research paper into his report on the tenability of the Indian

Patents Act has public health activists up in arms but the one by Philippines

has them smiling with the argument that it blows the bottom out of the former's

contention that the Act does not conform to TRIPS.

Mashelkar may be on a weak wicket now. The Philippines government has pinched

the contentious clause from the Indian Patents Act into its patent regime. Given

its own robust generic drugs industry, the action by the tiny country, it is

argued, demonstrates that the clause is compatible with the international

regime.

Contrary to this, the expert committee headed by the former CSIR chief examining

if the said clause was tenable in the face of India's commitment to

international agreement on patents has vociferously argued that it needs to be

junked.

The report, however, is caught now in a wrangle over plagiarism with charges

that it backed its arguments against the clause with arguments copied verbatim

from a research paper, funded by international pharmaceutical groups, and

compiled to mobilise opinion in favour of the patents regime and evergreening of

old patents.

'Evergreening' means any small change in an existing drug would enable an

extended monopoly to the patent holder. This has emerged as a major bone of

contention with a strong lobby arguing that it would perpetuate monopolies and

jack up drug prices.

ines has added a chapter in its patents law Act No 8293 to provide for

the safeguards against pharmaceutical industry procuring patents on older drugs

by merely tweaking the content a bit with no substantial gains in the

effectiveness of the medicine.

The fact that another developing country, with a substantially-sized generic

drug industry, has adopted a similar clause, public health activists believe,

reaffirms that the clause is in tune with international TRIPS regulations, and

that the Mashelkar report is incorrect. Mashelkar has now asked the government

to let him re-submit the report. The government is yet to respond to his

request.

Mashelkar though continues to defend the report. " We went by the legal opinion

of the experts on the technical committee. But in case the government asks us to

review we shall. Till date, the government has not got back to us on it, " he

told TOI on Friday. N R Madhava Menon, one of the two legal experts on the panel

too remained defiant.

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Kajal Bhardwaj

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