Three cheers to Indian govt

Millions of thanks to Indian Govt who have taken a bold step to bring solace to thousands of cancer afflicted patients and their families by making available cancer drugs at an affordable price both to rich and poor. Nexavar is a drug commonly used to treat kidney, brain and lung cancers . This drug is manufactured by a firm called Bayer who have a patent for the drug and and the same was imported all along. The cost of the drug for a month's treatment was around $5000/-( euquivaent to Rs 250,000). In a landmark decision, ignoring the objections of the manufacturing firm and overlooking its patency cry, the Indian govt has allowed an Indian firm to manufacture and distribute the drug at 25% of cost , which means the treatment can be had now at around Rs 6000/- per month.
But what hurts is Deputy Director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO), Teresa Rea, is pushing for Congressional approval for the Obama White House’s strong-arm tactics to bully Indian manufacturers of Nexavar’s generic equivalent into giving up their plan to sell their product at a much more affordable $157 per month.
Affordable Obama care is not for India, I suppose.
(Courtesy: The Hindu dated 13 July 2012)
Gopalan