John Judis on "K Street Gore"

[James Love <love@cptech.org>]

John Judis has just written a very good article for the American
Prospect about Vice President Gore and the dispute with South Africa
over parallel imports and compulsory licensing.  Here are a few excepts
from the article.    Jamie

John Judis, "K Street Gore," The American Prospect, July-August
1999, Number 45, pages 18-19

One interesting quote in the article suggests Vice President Gore is not
waffling on the issue:

          a press representative faxed me a statement
          that Gore was "working to help AIDS patients
          by making sure drug companies maintain profit
          levels to develop new AIDS medications."

These are a few excerpts from the article:

     There has been at least one instance during Gore's vice
     presidency when he seems to been unduly swayed by his
     tied to high-tech industry.  It's a fairly obscure case
     that involved trade policy toward the export of AIDS
     drugs to South Africa and raised questions about how to
     weigh narrow economic priorities against broader
     humanitarian concerns.  Gore himself was at the center
     of administration policy on this issue.  Together with
     his extensive fundraising and lobbying connections, it
     provides a warning signal of the unwarranted influence
     that these types of firms might have over his
     presidency. . . 

     Compulsory licensing would permit the South African
     government to arrange for the production of vitally
     needed drugs that its citizens cannot currently obtain
     at affordable prices.  The government would sell these
     generic drugs within South Africa and would pay the
     patent owner a fixed royalty on each sale.  Compulsory
     licensing can cut the cost of these drugs by 75 to 90
     percent.  Parallel importing consists of purchasing the
     brand-name drugs from a third party in another country
     rather than directly from the manufacturer--taking
     advantage of the fact that drug companies sometimes
     charge significantly lower prices in one country than
     other . . . 

     The key industry lobby is the Pharmaceutical Research
     and Manufactures Association (PhRMA).  PhRMA has
     charged that South Africa is violating WTO rules on
     intellectual property and has called for the U.S.
     Government to enact trade sanctions against South
     Africa until it repeals its law. . . .
     
     In fact, PhRMA and other drug company lobbyists have
     grossly misrepresented what is permitted under the
     WTO's rules.  The WTO's trade agreement on intellectual
     property, known as TRIPS, specifically allows countries
     to engage in compulsory licensing. . .

     Moreover, parallel importing, which would be the more
     likely course for the South African Ministry of Health
     to follow initially, is not covered at all under the
     WTO, as a State Department Report acknowledged last
     February.  It's completely legal under the WTO and is,
     in fact, perfectly consistent with principles of free
     trade that the drug company lobbyist claim to uphold...

     PhRMA, of course, is acting like a lobby--pressing the
     interests of its clients even when their case is weak
     and morally repugnant--but what is astonishing is that
     the Clinton Administration has thrown its full weight
     behind their complaint. . .

     Gore is the Administration point man in U.S. South
     Africa trade. . . . Even while publicly acknowledging
     South Africa's AIDS crisis, the Vice President has
     badgered Mbeki repeatedly about his country's alleged
     offenses against American drug companies. . .Gore is
     also closely linked to PhRMA and its lobbyists.  Member
     companies contributed significantly to Gore's PAC.  One
     of PhRMA's key lobbyists is Anthony Podesta, the
     brother of Clinton Chief of Staff John Podesta, a
     friend and advisor of Gore.  Anthony Podesta also
     worked for Gore's David Beier when Beier [now Gore's
     chief Domestic Policy Advisor] was Genetech's lobbyist,
     and is the landlord of Simon Strategies, which shares
     office space and projects with Podesta's firm.  And
     Gore has fully backed PhRMA's complaint against South
     Africa. . .

     There has been very little protest of the
     administration's role because very few people know
     about it.  In Washington, James Love, the director of
     Ralph Nader's Consumer Project on Technology, has taken
     up the issue along with two international groups,
     Health Action International and Medecin Sans
     Frontieres, but Gore has not responded to several
     letters that Love and Nader have sent.  When I asked
     Gore for a response to these letters, a press
     representative faxed me a statement that Gore was
     "working to help AIDS patients by making sure drug
     companies maintain profit levels to develop new AIDS
     medications."

     Perhaps Gore was helping some AIDS patients, but
     clearly not those in South Africa.

     . . . 
     
-- 
James Love, Director, Consumer Project on Technology
I can be reached at love@cptech.org, by telephone 202.387.8030,
by fax at 202.234.5176. CPT web page is http://www.cptech.org