Copyright 1999 The New York Times Company
The New
York Times
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September 10, 1999, Friday, Late Edition -
Final
SECTION: Section A; Page 3; Column
1; Foreign Desk
LENGTH: 375 words
HEADLINE: U.S. Industry to Drop AIDS
Drug Lawsuit Against South Africa
BYLINE: By NEIL A. LEWIS
DATELINE: WASHINGTON, Sept. 9
BODY:
Pharmaceutical industry leaders said today
that they had suspended a lawsuit against South Africa over the
price of drugs to treat AIDS and other illnesses.
The
dispute has generated public anger toward Vice President Al Gore, who in talks
with South Africa represented the drug companies' point of
view.
The suit challenged a 1997 law aimed at giving South African
patients access to cheaper drugs. More than 40 major drug companies said the law
infringed on their patent rights. Alan F. Holmer, president of an organization
representing the drug companies, said a senior South African official had
assured him that the law would soon be changed.
The companies have been
trying for two years to persuade South Africa to change the
law. Mr. Holmer said that the South African Health Minister, Dr. Manto
Tshabalala-Msimang, had said the bill would be redrafted next year. The law
covers all drugs, but the focus of the dispute has been on AIDS
drugs, because they are especially expensive and South Africa
has been ravaged by the disease.
The 1997 law had two provisions aimed
at bringing down drug prices. One sought to take advantage of a kind of gray
market by allowing the import of drugs from countries where they may be
available for less, even though unlicensed by the companies that hold the
patents.
The second provision, called compulsory
licensing, would let the South African Government license local
manufacturers to make their own generic versions.
The pharmaceutical
companies objected strongly, fearing that the law would erode their patent
protections. They have pushed for help both from Congress and the White House,
even raising the possibility of economic sanctions against South
Africa.
The complex trade issue has proved a problem
for Mr. Gore, who had represented the drug companies' point of view in talks
with South Africa.
He has been confronted at campaign
appearances by protesters accusing him of heartlessness toward
AIDS sufferers in South Africa.
Industry officials have said that the dispute has blocked efforts to
find other ways to reduce the cost of AIDS drugs in South
Africa.
An estimated 6 million of South
Africa's 44 million people are infected with H.I.V., the virus
that causes AIDS.
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LOAD-DATE: September 10, 1999
