The Hudson Institute's mission is to attack perceived threats to corporate America by releasing questionable research to the media and by writing attack op.eds. The pattern: take on a topic, brutally attack a perceived weakness, offer only corporate America's solutions. Keep hammering away for as long as possible so more doubt can be sown.
Current issues: AIDs drugs for poor countries
In an article in The Washington Times, James Glassman asserts that "[t]he strategy of fighting AIDS in Africa with questionable generic drugs in developing countries now lies in shambles...." Glassman, a Fellow at the Hudson's buddy, The American Enterprise Institute, cites a Hudson Institute Study on comparitive drug costs, November 30, 2004) in which the Hudson Institute claims, contrary to all evidence, that big pharmaceuticals' patented drugs are as cheap or less expensive than generics in poor countries and that the costs to health of using generics in third world country are "devastating." Glassman manages to blast the World Health Organization, Doctors Without Borders and Bill Clinton's Clinton Foundation, treating all of them as if they were illegal drug cartels. (See the article at http://www.washtimes.com/commentary/2004/1116-085735-3175r.htm) Checking information from these organizations as well as checking the news from countries benefitting from the generics quickly disproves the price claims of the Hudson Institute. In Clint Trout, Associate Director, International Policy, AIDS Health-Care Foundation, Los Angeles, offers a rebuttal in the Washington Times forum at www.washtimes.com/commentary/20041120-084026-2964r.htm.
Tracing back to the Hudson Institute, one finds that it's rage is centered on perceived threats to drug patents, the lifeblood of the big pharmaceuticals. Check out www.hudson.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=search_action for a list of the Hudson Institute's articles on this subject.
Meanwhile, in the cases of withdrawn Indian drugs, the issue is to insure that they are the"bioequivalent" of their patented counterparts. Two drugs have been reinstated, others should be. The solution to the problem obviously is to have the drug companies work to upgrade their products where necessary. None were considered dangerous.
But there is another threat: the World Trade Organization (WTO) has registration requirements. If they are not met, this may also hamper continued production of the drugs.
Eli Lilly is one of the funders of the Hudson Institute. George Bush appointed the former CEO and chairman of Eli Lilli, Randall Tobias, head of the United States' official AIDs program.
Additional links for this story: Medecins sans frontieres (Doctors without Borders) www.msf.org
http://malaysiakini.com on the WTO requirements.
www.ipsnews.net/interna.asp?idnews=26508 on AIDS drugs in Venezuela.
Plus thousands more.
