Doctors Without Borders and more than fifty other public health organizations sent a letter to Congress on Tuesday calling on lawmakers to reject the pending Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP), warning that it will “expand the monopoly power” of Big Pharma and dangerously limit access to affordable medicine for millions worldwide.
In its current form, the TPP includes provisions that “allow pharmaceutical companies to intervene in public policy deliberations on drug pricing” and facilitate “abuse of the patent system” by extending monopoly protections and exclusivity periods, the letter (pdf) reads, hampering the introduction of affordable generic drugs.