In addition to the numerous groups and institutions that stood in support of AB 463 (Pharmaceutical Cost Transparency Act of 2015) at the California Assembly Health Committee hearing on April 21st, six civil society groups that we are aware of have submitted letters or statements in support of the bill.
In alphabetical order, these include:
1. American Medical Students Association (AMSA)
2. National Council of Asian Pacific Islander Physicians (NCAPIP)
3. National Physicians Alliance (NPA)
4. Public Citizen
5. Universities Allied for Essential Medicines (UAEM)
Continue Reading →
Yesterday (April 21,2015) the California Assembly held a Health Committee hearing to discuss various bills being offered, including Assembly Member Dan Chiu’s AB 463, titled the Pharmaceutical Cost Transparency Act of 2015.
AB 463 calls for the pharmaceutical industry to annually report its costs for developing and manufacturing a drug (for any course of treatment over $10k). The bill seeks to provide audited information on R&D costs, a topic for which the industry often makes unsupported and exaggerated claims.
Continue Reading →
The California Assembly Health Committee has published an analysis of AB463, the Pharmaceutical Cost Transparency Act of 2015. The bill will be marked up by the committee on Tuesday (April 21). The analysis was written by Dharia McGrew. It recommends three amendments to the bill, and provides a discussion of the benefits of the required disclosures, with context, and describes the support and opposition. The staff report is attached, and below is a list of 33 groups supporting and 22 opposing the bill. Continue Reading →
Knowledge Ecology International (KEI) will present the following statement on 20 April 2015 to the Open Session of the 20th Expert Committee on the Selection and Use of Essential Medicines.
Statement of Knowledge Ecology International: WHO 20th Expert Committee on the Selection and Use of Essential Medicines, with specific focus on expanding access to new cancer drugs, when available at affordable prices
20 April 2015
Dear members of the WHO Expert Committee and the WHO secretariat,
Continue Reading →
This is a bill that will see legislative action next week in California, and the bill has some momentum. This is the first time I have seen any government make an effort to have useful data on the economics drug drug development and pricing, and it provides a model that other governments may want to built upon.
A mark-up on the bill has been scheduled for Tuesday, April 21, 2015, in the Assembly Health Committee.
BILL NUMBER: AB 463
INTRODUCED BILL TEXT
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Chiu
FEBRUARY 23, 2015
Continue Reading →
This from the Wikileaks Sony Archive:
An email from Keith Weaver, the “Executive Vice President, Worldwide Government Affairs at Sony Pictures Entertainment, provide an illustration the practical art of doing “Government Affairs,” meeting “goals” for fundraisers, trying to avoid making “personal” contributions, and wondering if the donations were to much focused on another company’s purchase of policy” “smells a little bit like a Disney play regarding corp. tax reform”.
Jamie
From: Weaver, Keith
Sent: Tuesday, August 26, 2014 5:23 PM
To: Weil, Leah
Continue Reading →
In the new Wikileaks archives of leaked Sony documents (Link here), there is a memo (https://wikileaks.org/sony/docs/05/docs/DECE/DECE%20CP1%20-%20ss.doc.pdf), which describes Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) concern over the proposed WIPO treaty for copyright exceptions for persons who are blind or have other disabilities. The memo, undated in the Wikileaks archives, but probably written in 2009, included the following passages:
Continue Reading →
Other KEI comments on NIH licenses are found here: /nih-licenses
Continue Reading →
In advance of the World Trade Organization’s October 2014 session of the TRIPS Council, the European Union, Switzerland and the United States made a written request to the TRIPS Council to discuss “Intellectual Property and Innovation: Promoting Awareness; Case Studies” under agenda item 12. This marked the 7th time that the United States tabled an item to the TRIPS Council relating to intellectual property or innovation.
In the context of these October 2014 discussions of Intellectual Property and Innovation, the Government of India delivered the following intervention asserting that,
Continue Reading →
2013. Manon Anne Ress. Global Public Goods, transnational public goods: some definitions : How are global public goods defined? Definitions of ‘global public goods’ as outlined by major contributors to the international debate. (html)
Manon’s 2013 collection of quotes is very relevant, but here are some additional definitions. The discussions by Musgrave and Steiner are probably closer to how people actually define public or social goods in practice.
