Integrative Medicine and Alternative Health Community
Going beyond Homeopathy for health and preventative medicine
Abbott Sues AIDS Activists
Abbott Labs is suing the French AIDS activist group Act Up-Paris for launching an attack that crashed the company’s Web site earlier this year, on the eve of its annual meeting.
The attack was in response to the fight over the status Abbott’s AIDS-drug Kaletra in Thailand. After the Thai government said it would break the company’s patent on the drug to make it available more cheaply, Abbott withdrew its application to sell new AIDS drugs in Thailand — including a new version of Kaletra that is less sensitive to heat and would be well suited for Thailand’s tropical climate.
The lawsuit stands out given the drug industry’s usually conciliatory stance toward AIDS activists, the WSJ reports this morning. Paris-Act Up has sometimes drawn criticism for being too radical, according to the paper, but the Abbott lawsuit has rallied other AIDS groups to the organization’s defense. “It’s the latest in a long line of miserable actions by Abbott,” the director of the New York-based Treatment Action Group told the paper. Abbott has previously been criticized for raising the U.S. price of its AIDS drug Norvir by 400% in an attempt to pressure patients to switch to Kaletra.
Abbott defended its decision to file a lawsuit. “We respect the right to protest and, while our organizations can disagree on various matters, it is important to convey those disagreements in a respectful, appropriate and lawful manner,” a company spokesman told the WSJ.
_____________________
Online Insurance Quotes
The attack was in response to the fight over the status Abbott’s AIDS-drug Kaletra in Thailand. After the Thai government said it would break the company’s patent on the drug to make it available more cheaply, Abbott withdrew its application to sell new AIDS drugs in Thailand — including a new version of Kaletra that is less sensitive to heat and would be well suited for Thailand’s tropical climate.
The lawsuit stands out given the drug industry’s usually conciliatory stance toward AIDS activists, the WSJ reports this morning. Paris-Act Up has sometimes drawn criticism for being too radical, according to the paper, but the Abbott lawsuit has rallied other AIDS groups to the organization’s defense. “It’s the latest in a long line of miserable actions by Abbott,” the director of the New York-based Treatment Action Group told the paper. Abbott has previously been criticized for raising the U.S. price of its AIDS drug Norvir by 400% in an attempt to pressure patients to switch to Kaletra.
Abbott defended its decision to file a lawsuit. “We respect the right to protest and, while our organizations can disagree on various matters, it is important to convey those disagreements in a respectful, appropriate and lawful manner,” a company spokesman told the WSJ.
_____________________
Online Insurance Quotes
About
Badge
© 2010 Created by Matthew O'Brien on Ning. Create a Ning Network!
