[governance] Global trade in medicines - we have a new regulator
parminder
parminder at itforchange.net
Mon Jul 21 11:20:52 EDT 2014
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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