Patents for Critical Pharmaceuticals: The AZT Case

1991 ◽  
Vol 17 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 145-180
Author(s):  
Evan Ackiron
Keyword(s):  
The United States ◽  
Incentive System ◽  
The Public ◽  
Incentive Programs ◽  
The Past ◽  
Research And Innovation ◽  
Monopoly Pricing ◽  
Conflicting Interests ◽  
Necessary Evil ◽  
Near Future

Patents and other statutory types of market protections are used in the United States to promote scientific research and innovation. This incentive is especially important in research intensive fields such as the pharmaceutical industry. Unfortunately, these same protections often result in higher monopoly pricing once a successful product is brought to market. Usually this consequence is viewed as the necessary evil of an incentive system that encourages costly research and development by promising large rewards to the successful inventor. However, in the case of the AIDS drug Zidovudine (AZT), the high prices charged by the pharmaceutical company owning the drug have led to public outcry and a re-examination of government incentive systems.This Note traces the evolution of these incentive programs — the patent system, and, to a lesser extent, the orphan drug program — and details the conflicting interests involved in their development. It then demonstrates how the AZT problem brings the interest of providing inventors with incentives for risky innovative efforts into a sharp collision with the ultimate goal of such systems: ensuring that the public has access to the resulting products at a reasonable price. Finally, the Note describes how Congress and the courts have attempted to resolve these problems in the past, and how they might best try to solve the AZT problem in the near future.

scholarly journals United States response to the COVID-19 pandemic, January–November 2020

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-14
Author(s):  
Mathew Alexander ◽  
Lynn Unruh ◽  
Andriy Koval ◽  
William Belanger
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
The United States ◽  
Contact Tracing ◽  
Public Health Response ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Past ◽  
Health Response ◽  
Physical Infrastructure ◽  
Key Policy ◽  
United States Healthcare

Abstract As of November 2020, the United States leads the world in confirmed coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases and deaths. Over the past 10 months, the United States has experienced three peaks in new cases, with the most recent spike in November setting new records. Inaction and the lack of a scientifically informed, unified response have contributed to the sustained spread of COVID-19 in the United States. This paper describes major events and findings from the domestic response to COVID-19 from January to November 2020, including on preventing transmission, COVID-19 testing and contact tracing, ensuring sufficient physical infrastructure and healthcare workforce, paying for services, and governance. We further reflect on the public health response to-date and analyse the link between key policy decisions (e.g. closing, reopening) and COVID-19 cases in three states that are representative of the broader regions that have experienced spikes in cases. Finally, as we approach the winter months and undergo a change in national leadership, we highlight some considerations for the ongoing COVID-19 response and the broader United States healthcare system. These findings describe why the United States has failed to contain COVID-19 effectively to-date and can serve as a reference in the continued response to COVID-19 and future pandemics.

scholarly journals Vulnerability due to Nocturnal Tornadoes

2008 ◽  
Vol 23 (5) ◽  
pp. 795-807 ◽  
Author(s):  
Walker S. Ashley ◽  
Andrew J. Krmenec ◽  
Rick Schwantes
Keyword(s):  
The United States ◽  
Past Century ◽  
Building Structures ◽  
The Public ◽  
Mobile Homes ◽  
The Past ◽  
High Fatality Rate ◽  
Potential Break ◽  
Tornado Warning ◽  
Dissemination System

Abstract This study investigates the human vulnerability caused by tornadoes that occurred between sunset and sunrise from 1880 to 2007. Nocturnal tornadoes are theorized to enhance vulnerability because they are difficult to spot and occur when the public tends to be asleep and in weak building structures. Results illustrate that the nocturnal tornado death rate over the past century has not shared the same pace of decline as those events transpiring during the daytime. From 1950 to 2005, a mere 27.3% of tornadoes were nocturnal, yet 39.3% of tornado fatalities and 42.1% of killer tornado events occurred at night. Tornadoes during the overnight period (local midnight to sunrise) are 2.5 times as likely to kill as those occurring during the daytime hours. It is argued that a core reason why the national tornado fatality toll has not continued to decrease in the past few decades is due to the vulnerability to these nocturnal events. This vulnerability is magnified when other factors such as escalating mobile (or “manufactured”) home stock and an increasing and spreading population are realized. Unlike other structure types that show no robust demarcation between nocturnal and daytime fatalities, nearly 61% of fatalities in mobile homes take place at night revealing this housing stock’s distinct nocturnal tornado vulnerability. Further, spatial analysis illustrates that the American South’s high nocturnal tornado risk is an important factor leading to the region’s high fatality rate. The investigation emphasizes a potential break in the tornado warning dissemination system utilized currently in the United States.

Transgender and Nonbinary Gender Policy in the Public Sector

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicole M. Elias
Keyword(s):  
The United States ◽  
Physical And Mental Health ◽  
Public Agencies ◽  
Transgender People ◽  
The Public ◽  
Gender Policy ◽  
The Past ◽  
Government Documents ◽  
Nonbinary Gender ◽  
And Gender

Our understanding and treatment of gender in the United States has evolved significantly over the past four decades. Transgender individuals in the current U.S. context enjoy more rights and protections than they have in the past; yet, room for progress remains. Moving beyond the traditional male–female binary, an unprecedented number of people now identify as transgender and nonbinary. Transgender identities are at the forefront of gender policy, prompting responses from public agencies at the local, state, and federal levels. Because transgender individuals face increased rates of discrimination, violence, and physical and mental health challenges, compared to their cisgender counterparts, new gender policy often affords legal protections as well as identity-affirming practices such as legal name and gender marker changes on government documents. These rights come from legal decisions, legislation, and administrative agency policies. Despite these victories, recent government action targeting the transgender population threatens the progress that has been made. This underscores the importance of comprehensive policies and education about transgender identities to protect the rights of transgender people.

scholarly journals NBOMe Compounds: Systematic Review and Data Crunching of the Surface Web

2017 ◽  
Vol 9 (11) ◽  
pp. 126 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ahmed Al-Imam ◽  
Ban A. AbdulMajeed
Keyword(s):  
Public Interest ◽  
Grey Literature ◽  
Warning System ◽  
The United States ◽  
Statistical Information ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Past ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Surface Web ◽  
India And China

BACKGROUND: NBOMe compounds, some of which commercially known as “N-Bomb” or “Smiles” signifying their potency, represent a uniquely potent group of phenethylamine derivatives. These have been recently used in the past decade for their powerful hallucinogenic properties to induce a “psychedelic trip”.METHODS: This study is an analytics of the surface web incorporating data from; the published literature, grey literature, drug fora, and trends’ databases. The study aims to review the pharmacodynamic effects of three most popular N-Bombs (25b, 25c, and 25i), analyse reported cases of intoxications and fatalities, and correlate these incidents with data retrieved from Google Trends.RESULTS: The potency and popularity of NBOMe compounds are tallied worldwide, 25b-NBOMe (least potent and least popular), 25i-NBOMe (most potent and most popular), while the 25c-NBOMe is in the middle. The popularity of each has been on the rise since 2011-2012, these compounds are most popular in the United States and the United Kingdom, while data from the developing world and the densely-populated India and China are either lacking or inadequate. The reported cases of intoxications and deaths were statistically proven to be correlated with the trends’ dataCONCLUSION: Inferential statistical information has associated cases of NBOMe(s)’ morbidities-mortalities with the public interest of surface web users in these hallucinogens. This study can serve a blueprint for an early warning system to be activated based on changes in trends’ data.

scholarly journals Current Status of Children’s Gardens Within Public Gardens in the United States

2015 ◽  
Vol 25 (5) ◽  
pp. 671-680
Author(s):  
Min Hyeong Kwon ◽  
Changwan Seo ◽  
Jongyun Kim ◽  
Moonil Kim ◽  
Chun Ho Pak ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Botanical Garden ◽  
The United States ◽  
Current Status ◽  
Natural Environments ◽  
Public Gardens ◽  
The Public ◽  
Public Garden ◽  
Near Future

The purpose of this study was to identify the current status and future development of children’s gardens within public gardens in the United States and to examine their roles as places for children to explore natural environments. This study identified 776 public gardens and examined 163 of those gardens using a comprehensive online survey. The sampled public gardens were widely distributed throughout the United States, although they were located primarily in the eastern and western regions of the United States. We found that 55% of the 163 public gardens that we investigated included a children’s garden at the time of data collection, and 26.4% planned to add a children’s garden in the near future. Children’s gardens found within public gardens were typically in a botanical garden and were added after the public gardens were formed. Most of the children’s gardens had a stated purpose of providing children with environmental education by allowing them to experience the natural environment through play. Most children’s gardens occupied a small proportion, less than 1 acre, of the overall size of a public garden. We also found that demographic and socioeconomic factors influenced the development of children’s gardens within public gardens and public gardens in general.

Health Care Markets in Australia: Ownership of the Private Hospital Sector

1998 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 487-510 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kevin White ◽  
Fran Collyer
Keyword(s):  
Private Hospital ◽  
Foreign Capital ◽  
Medical Profession ◽  
The United States ◽  
Hospital Sector ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Past ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Hospital Systems ◽  
Australian Hospital

Over the past decade, the Australian hospital sector has undergone a massive economic and administrative reorganization with ramifications for both the private and the public sectors. Changes such as privatization, deregulation, and the entry of foreign capital into the hospital sector are occurring in the hospital systems of many countries, including Australia, the United States, and the United Kingdom. These developments are radically transforming the hospital sector, altering established relationships between the state, the medical profession, the consumer, and the corporate investor, and raising important questions about the future of hospital services in regard to equity, accessibility, and quality.

scholarly journals A new causative agent of epidemic cerebrospinal meningitis. As reported by the Bureau of the Public Health Service

2021 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 91-91
Author(s):  
Z. B.
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
United States ◽  
Health Service ◽  
Causative Agent ◽  
Public Health Service ◽  
The United States ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Past ◽  
Very High

According to the Bureau of the Public Health Service (Washington), over the past five years, the number of diseases in the United States has been epidemic. cerebrospin. meningitis was very high (numbers not indicated), exceeding the number of diseases in the period since the beginning of the worlds, war.

scholarly journals Controlling Goods or Promoting the Public Good: Choices for Special Collections in the Marketplace

2015 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 48-63
Author(s):  
Michelle Light
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Public Good ◽  
Ad Hoc ◽  
The United States ◽  
Research Libraries ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Past ◽  
Special Collections ◽  
Rare Books

For the past few decades, many special collections repositories in the United States have charged licensing or use fees to those patrons who use or publish special collections materials for commercial purposes. In fact, about fifteen years ago the Rare Books and Manuscripts Section of the Association of College and Research Libraries charged an ad hoc committee, the Licensing and Reproductions of Special Collections Committee, to “create a reasoned and articulate defense of libraries’ right to charge licensing fees for commercial uses of their materials.”2 The Committee noted that, historically, libraries allowed scholars to publish freely from the content they . . .

scholarly journals COVID-19 vaccines and vaccine hesitancy: Role of the allergist/immunologist in promotion of vaccine acceptance

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph A. Bellanti
Keyword(s):  
Adverse Reactions ◽  
Present Report ◽  
The United States ◽  
Vaccine Hesitancy ◽  
Vaccine Acceptance ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Many ◽  
Do So

Background: Vaccine hesitancy has been defined as a delay in acceptance or refusal of vaccines, despite the availability ofvaccine services. In the past, despite an impressive record of vaccine effectiveness in the United States, several factors havecontributed to a decreased acceptance of vaccines that has resulted in outbreaks of infectious diseases, e.g., measles. More recently, vaccine hesitancy has spread to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccines. There are many causes of vaccine hesitancy, such as misinformation, fallacies, and myths, that have contributed to vaccine hesitancy.Objective: The purpose of the present report is to address the many causes of vaccine hesitancy and to suggest ways that the allergist/immunologist can be involved in the promotion of vaccine acceptance.Methods: The current COVID-19 vaccines were reviewed, together with their mechanisms(s) of action and adverse reactions to them.Results: The many causes of vaccine hesitancy include many doubts and concerns related to COVID-19 vaccines as well asa diminished level of confidence and trust by segments of the public in the nation's leaders in government, medical, and business communities, that those groups once enjoyed.Conclusion: Vaccination with COVID-19 vaccines is the only way that COVID-19 will be eliminated or at least controlled today, and vaccine hesitancy is the potential nemesis. The present report describes how the allergist/immunologist not only plays a major role in the delivery of specialized therapy of COVID-19 but also in educating the public with regard to the importance of COVID-19 vaccines, in dispelling misinformation, and in promoting trust for vaccine acceptance but must be informed with the most accurate and current information to do so.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document