Need drugs? The Trans-Pacific Partnership is an international treaty that Congress needs to approve. In this episode, find out how the TPP would affect your access to medicine. Would this treaty provide you access to life-saving drugs or would it provide the pharmaceutical industry excessive profits?

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Trans-Pacific Partnership Text

• Full Text of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, Office of the US Trade Representative, November 5, 2015.

Congress did not stand when President Obama told them to pass the TPP

Hearing Highlighted in this Episode

TPP Issue Analysis – Access to Medicines, House Ways and Means Committee (Democrats), December 8, 2015.

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Witnesses

• Stephen Ezell

  • VP of Global Innovation Policy, Information Technology and Innovation Foundation
  • Previously worked at the NASDAQ stock market, where he created the NASDAQ Market Intelligence Desk, which keeps companies up to date on their stock prices, and the NASDAQ Corporate Services Network
  • Founder of Brivo Systems, a high-tech services firm, and Lynx Capital, an investment firm.

• Joseph Damond

  • Senior VP for International Affairs, Biotechnology Industry Organization
  • Former Vice President of International Government Relations at Pfizer
  • Former Deputy Vice President of International Affairs for PhRMA (the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America)

• Rohit Malpani

  • Director of Policy and Analysis, Doctors Without Borders (Medecins Sans Frontieres)
  • Former Special Advisor to Oxfam America
  • Former Human Rights Advisor for the World Health Organization
  • Former laywer at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati

• Peter Maybarduk

  • Director, Public Citizen Global Access to Medicines Program

Intellectual Property Chapter Highlights

• Article 18.7: Forces all TPP countries to “ratify or accede to” six international treaties if they haven’t done so already

• Article 18.26: Trademark protections will be valid for 10 years

• Article 18.37: Patents will be available for “new uses of a known product, new methods of using a known product, and new processes of using a known product.”

  • Exclusions:
    • Countries can individually exclude surgical methods for the treatment of animals or humans, plants, animals, and biological processes for producing plants and animals from patentability

• Article 18.52: Patents for biologics will be for a minimum of five years

• Article 18.63: Copyright terms for performances or phonograms will be the life of the author plus 70 years. If the producer is a company, the copyright protecton will last for 70 years.

Sound Clip Sources

• Hearing: Exploring the Implementation and Future of the Veterans Choice Program, Senate Committee on Veteran’s Affairs, May 12, 2015.

• YouTube: Literal Drug Commercial by Pineapple-Shaped Lamps

Additional Reading

• Article: White House Releases Text of Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal by Vicki Needham, The Hill, November 5, 2015.

• Article: The Trans-Pacific Partnership Trade Accord Explained by Kevin Granville, New York Times, October 5, 2015.

• Article: VA to Outsource Care for 180,000 Vets With Hepatitis C by Dennis Wagner of the Arizona Republic (re-posted on USA Today), June 21, 2015.

• Report: The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) Negotiations and Issues for Congress by Ian Fergusson, Mark McMinimy, and Brock Williams, Congressional Research Service, March 20, 2015.

• Article: 24 Highest-paid hosts in the news business: Top Paid News Anchors by Amarendra Bhushan, CEO World Magazine, August 27, 2014.

• Article: Michael Froman and the Revolving Door by Felix Salon, Reuters, December 11, 2009.

Music Presented in This Episode

• Intro & Exit: Tired of Being Lied To by David Ippolito (found on Music Alley by mevio)

Cover Art

Design by Only Child Imaginations

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Jennifer Briney started paying attention to world events while studying in Germany in the spring of 2003 when the United States overthrew the government of Iraq. After experiencing the war from outside the United States, she started asking questions about her government. Every answer led to fifty more questions. This led to a thirst for information that she is still unable to quench.

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