A growing drum beat tuned for the election year is advising the government to override patent protection as the quick and easy way to make drugs more accessible. The patent system is being roundly condemned as a barrier to public health which must be brought to heel. Efforts range from urging the NIH to misuse the march in provisions of the Bayh-Dole Act to control drug costs to “A simple way for government to curb inflated drug prices“ in The Washington Post advising that the “government patent use” authority be invoked to take drugs deemed too expensive. The next step in the campaign is coming from the United Nations.
