[Ip-health] U.S. Journalists that covered trade disputes involving medicines, before the 1999 Gore zaps

[James Love]

http://www.keionline.org/index.php?option=3Dcom_jd-wp&Itemid=3D39&p=3D101

Journalists who wrote about US trade disputes before the 1999 Gore Zaps
February 29th, 2008
James Love

-------------
In a blog posted today on the Huffington Post, I could have, should
have, elaborated a bit on the few U.S. journalists who had written about
the trade disputes involving patents on medicines, before AIDS activists
began their zaps of Gore=E2=80=99s presidential campaign in June of 1999.

I can recall (help me if I am forgetting someone) four journalists who
were ahead of the curve. Each had to sell their institutions on the news
value of the stories, and have continued excellent reporting on these
issues.

    * March 29, 1998, Donald McNeil, for the New York Times, "South
Africa=E2=80=99s Bitter Pill for World's Drug Makers." A long (more than 2,=
900
words) and informative article about the dispute over parallel trade,
written more than one year before others wrote about the dispute.

    * April 11, 1999, Lisa Richwine for Reuters, "Groups say U.S. Hurts
World Access to AIDS Drugs." The first U.S. wire service article on the
trade dispute, Lisa addressed a wide range of technical issues and
topics, including even Donna Shalala's refusal to allow Thailand to use
the NIH owned patent on ddI.

    * April 28, 1999, Merrill Goozner in the Chicago Tribune, "Third
World Battles for AIDS Drugs." This long article ran on page one above
the fold, with a photo, and was the winner of a Washington Monthly
journalism award. The Goozner article was reportedly read by President
Clinton on Airforce One, causing him to use the White House staff to
immediately track down Sandy Thurman (who was taking a bath in a Hotel)
to talk about the issue. Interesting fact: It was in this article that
Goozner=E2=80=99s mentioned the TRIPS provision on national emergencies, le=
ading
to thousands of subsequent news stories which implied incorrectly that
compulsory licensing could only be done in cases of national
emergencies.

    * May 24, 1999, Sabin Russell, in the San Francisco Chronicle, "New
Crusade to Lower AIDS Drug Costs: Africa's needs at odds with firms'
profit motive." A front page story by a knowledgeable reporter on AIDS
and other health issues.



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James Love, Knowledge Ecology International (KEI)
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