[Upd-discuss] Access to Knowledge Treaty

[Robert Weissman]

Note that in the wake of the antidepressant and other drug scandals, the 
brand-name companies are already moving in this direction.

Pharma has a voluntary code for clinical test disclosure:

"There will be timely communication of meaningful study results, 
regardless of the outcome of the study.  The results must be reported in 
an objective, accurate, balanced, and complete manner, with a discussion 
of the limitations of the study.  Study sponsors will not suppress or 
veto publications."

http://www.phrma.org/mediaroom/press/releases/30.06.2004.427.cfm

And Glaxo entered into a binding commitment to make public all trial 
information in a settlement with New York AG Eliot Spitzer, to settle 
Paxil-related litigation.

Because of this, and other factors, the US/EU push that Jamie references 
for data protection is now generally no longer linked to "undisclosed" 
test data, but just to the data.

James Love wrote:

> Countries could agree, as a condition of marketing approval for 
> medicines, to have disclosures of all trials.
>
> Interesting, the US and EU have, and are pushing everywhere, for a sui 
> generis protection of data from trials.  This protection includes an 
> exclusive right to rely upon  information from trials, even when no 
> patents are involved.
>
> jamie
>
> Richard Stallman wrote:
>
>> Another idea is to require publication of the detaila of drug studies,
>> the information that drug companies like to keep secret.
>>
>> Another idea is to forbid drug companies to have any control over the
>> publication over any research results of research that they fund.
>>
>> I wish I could think of a way to prevent them from punishing
>> researchers who publish negative results by not funding them any more,
>> but the only way I can see is for the government to tax these
>> companies and fund the research directly.  That doesn't really fit
>> the rubric of "access to knowledge".
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>