[governance] Global trade in medicines - we have a new regulator

[parminder]

    US pharma industry takes up new levers to control global trade in
    medicines. (Dont be surprised if sale generic drugs is suppressed
    and medicine price soars). parminder



    http://www.ip-watch.org/2014/07/21/can-the-dot-pharmacy-new-generic-domain-name-be-impartial/?utm_source=IP-Watch+Subscribers&utm_campaign=f51d53bf4b-DAILY_SUMMARY&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_b78685696b-f51d53bf4b-352131825



    Can The Dot Pharmacy New Generic Domain Be Impartial?

By Catherine Saez <http://www.ip-watch.org/author/catherine/> and 
William New <http://www.ip-watch.org/author/william/>, Intellectual 
Property Watch

New generic top-level domain names seem set to be a constant source of 
discussions and dissension. The domain “.pharmacy” has been awarded to a 
United States pharmacy association with industry backing, stirring 
concerns among civil society and others. But the association insists it 
will work in an impartial manner to ensure safety of online 
pharmaceutical sales.

The National Association of Boards of Pharmacy (NABP) announced in June 
that the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) 
decided upon NABP becoming the registry operator of the new “.pharmacy” 
domain.

This “will soon provide a means for identifying safe online pharmacies 
and resources,” according to NABP 
<https://www.nabp.net/news/nabp-executes-registry-agreement-with-icann-for-pharmacy-domain--2>, 
which adds that under the agreement with ICANN, the new generic 
top-level domain (gTLD) “will be available only to legitimate online 
pharmacies and related entities located in the United States or other 
countries.”

The pharmacy gTLD is expected to be launched by NABP by autumn 2014.

However, according to Gabriel Levitt, vice-president of the company 
PharmacyChecker.com <https://www.pharmacychecker.com/>, the main funders 
of the NABP application are Eli Lily, Merck and Pfizer, as shown on NABP 
“coalition support 
<https://www.nabp.net/programs/pharmacy/pharmacy-and-nabp/coalition-support>” 
web page.

The NABP application for the .pharmacy domain has been challenged in the 
past at ICANN by several groups, such as Public Citizen 
<https://gtldcomment.icann.org/comments-feedback/applicationcomment/commentdetails/12145>, 
Knowledge Ecology International 
<https://gtldcomment.icann.org/comments-feedback/applicationcomment/commentdetails/12168>, 
and the Canadian International Pharmacy Association 
<https://gtldcomment.icann.org/comments-feedback/applicationcomment/commentdetails/12174>.

According to Levitt, NABP “is apparently going much further than just 
creating rules for online pharmacies” as it “will also decide which 
companies, advocacy groups and other entities – such as those advocating 
policies to expand access to affordable medications – can obtain the 
.pharmacy domain ending,” he said.

“NABP will become a global ICANN registry, dominated by an American 
pharmacy board association, funded by the big three drug companies,” he 
alleged.

In a response 
<http://newgtlds.icann.org/sites/default/files/applicants/23may13/gac-advice-response-1-1040-55064-en.pdf> 
[pdf] to the ICANN Government Advisory Committee (GAC), the NABP sought 
to settle concerns, arguing that it is “an impartial professional 
organization that supports the state boards of pharmacy in creating 
uniform regulations to protect public health,” and that it will work 
through an advisory committee with members of the pharmacy community to 
develop standards of operation for all domain registrants.

The vast majority of websites currently selling pharmaceuticals online 
are doing so illegally, the response states.

“NABP plans to operate .PHARMACY in line with [its] core mission of 
promoting public health and patient safety,” and will operate it using a 
“tightly controlled registration policy” restricting second-level 
registrations to the domain to licensed pharmacies and “prescription 
drug-related entities that are in good standing and in compliance with 
all applicable laws in the jurisdictions in which they dispense, ship or 
sell medications and that agree to conduct business according to all 
standards of operation.”


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