The content in this page ("Abbott Sues Act Up-Paris. Drug company sues PLWAs for the first time." by Act Up-Paris) is not produced by Prachatai staff. Prachatai merely provides a platform, and the opinions stated here do not necessarily reflect those of Prachatai.

Abbott Sues Act Up-Paris. Drug company sues PLWAs for the first time.

Pharmaceutical company Abbott decided to sue PLWAs group Act Up-Paris in
response to the April 26th, 2007 netstrike we organized against the drug
manufacturer : the first time a drug company has used legal action
against us. Yet this strategy will force Abbott to justify its criminal
decisions, which are depriving PLWAs in Thaïland of the company's new
drugs, effectively sentencing them to death. 

The True Crime: Abbott's policy

Last December, Thaïland issued compulsory licenses on several drugs, one
of them patented by Abbott. By licensing particular drugs, the Thai
government can produce or import less expensive, generic copies of the
medicines, allowing the Thai health system to vastly increase the number
of patients it treats.

Even though the Thai government's decision explicitly respects
international agreements on intellectual property, Abbott decided to
retaliate in a brand new way: by refusing to register its new
drugs-including the heat-stable Kaletra, a second line drug, needed by
PLWAs in the case of therapeutic failure-in Thailand. Abott is
effectively sentencing Thai AIDS patients to death.

No Possible Appeal

Abbott's decision went against international agreements on intellectual
property (TRIPS) signed by the government members of the WTO. But the
very same agreements don't provide an appeal process to the WTO in the
case that a private industrial group decides to ignore them. Only
governments are accountable to the WTO. Though illegitimate and
criminal, Abbott's decision is not legally questionable.

The WHO and, for instance, the French Minister of Foreign Affairs,
supported the Thai government's decision. Numerous doctors and
researchers denounced Abbott's retaliation and called for a boycott of
the company's products, a very rare act by health workers. Among the
shareholders, a strong minority urged the company's leaders to step back
and to withdraw their criminal decision. Without any result.

Public Challenge, the Last Weapon Abbott Wants to Deprive us of.

To defend their lives, the only option for PLWAs was to publicly
challenge the company. On April 26, the day before the General Assembly
of Abbott's shareholders, a network of Thai PLWAs called for an
international day of action, supported by NGOs around the world.

Act Up-Paris called upon activists all over the world to participate in
a netstrike. Hundreds, even thousands of people in France, Thailand, the
U.S. and elsewhere, repeatedly visited Abbott's website in order to
force a slowing down of its servers.

Three weeks later, Abbott filed a complaint against Act Up-Paris. The
laboratory wants us to be condemned for "service denial." Should this be
accepted by the court, we could be sentenced to very high penalties. The
fine could reach $50,000, not including liabilities, a communique
release of the verdict (paid communication) and legal expenses. These
expenses would be incredibly damaging to our organization and are a drop
in the bucket compared to Abbott's profits. This legal action is clearly
an attempt by the laboratory to silence Act Up-Paris.

Bringing Abbott's suit rather than Act Up's

The legal article Abbott is using against Act Up-Paris stipulates that
it is forbidden to limit the access to a website, unless the defendant
acted under a "legitimate motive". Is defending patients' lives against
profit illegitimate? The call for a boycott issued by Thai patients,
public declarations made by the WHO and officials in the French
government, as well as political actions around the world supports the
legitimacy of our motive.

By suing us, Abbott will have to prove that the lives of thousands of
Thai people is not legitimate enough a motive to criticize publicly a
medicine company. The lawsuit the laboratory is bringing against us,
patients, will reveal to the world the very obscenity of Abbott's
actions in Thailand.

***We request from Abbott's leaders to:
-    Stop threatening countries which are doing nothing more than
resorting to their rights, in agreement/compliance with international
treaties.
-   Withdraw their decision to put to death thousands of HIV+ people in
Thailand.
-   Take back their complaint against Act Up-Paris.

Source: 
<p>http://www.actupparis.org/article3018.html</p>

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