Lu Yong: Chinese Buyers Club

China is prosecuting Lu Yong for importing illegals drugs. But the person was doing to keep his right to live. A leukemia patient was caught for smuggling life-saving drugs illegally into China to keep himself and others alive. A drug when would cost 1000 yuan would cost 100 when bought from India pharma companies. The strict patent regime made the life difficult when it comes to life saving drugs. The medicines are out of reach for majority of the population. The story doesn't ends in China but the ordeal continue in Thailand, Brazil, African countries.

For multinational pharma companies, life saving medicine is just a business but for third world its a matter of life and death. In most cases, the customs department release the seized goods on humanity grounds. But still the strict patent regime continue the ordeal of patients who needed the life saving drugs. While developing countries mulls amending patents law, the MNC pharma companies lobby against the move. For them, Indian pharma companies are high value target to be taken out from the market to get upper hand. Since most buyers club depend on India for generic version of life saving drugs, MNCs started pestering Indian pharma industries with unwanted litigation.

It is good to amend patent law favoring the production of generic medicine. If not then one day medicine would turn to be high cost luxury product. Creating a cure for new disease is commendable and the researchers who spent whole life for the such innovation must be rewarded but with any other lives. The very purpose of invention get a wrong notion when it fails to benefit majority of the human population..

For multi national companies, the drug they produce must fetch profit along with cost incurred in such researches. But such approach when it comes to life saving drugs defeat the very purpose of citizen welfare. We are not still stuck at the old notion of warring state. The Concept is Gross National Happiness is taking precedence over the old Gross Development product. Such notion gains success when citizens are provided with adequate welfare schemes.

The law might stamp him as wrongdoer but the equity discharge him. Lu Yong, not only saved his life, tried to save many others. The charges were that he was trying to smuggle goods illegally. Had he done it for profit the state action is justifiable. When a law which does injustice then such law shall be considered as no law. Hope the the cause of Yu Long might turn the tide in the developing world.

Unnecessary Surgery due to Monetization of Indian Healthcare

Shocking news has been revealed by the media that  44% of the surgery done to the patients are unnecessary. 

"Everything in Indian healthcare is increasingly getting monetized. This is an indicator of that malaise." -Dr Sanjay Nagral, Editorial Board, the Indian Journal of Medical Ethics¹

When a person or his family face any health problem, the first thing done to the ailing person is self medication. Visiting a Hospital for a cure is frowned up when it comes to common ailments. The reason for such self-medication is due to the huge cost involved in the treatment. Our way of socialization of individuals in the society has added huge cost when it comes to healthcare system in India. Where Government is bound to provide health care for every individual in a country, healthcare system in India were delegated to private players. The end result was nothing but monetization of Indian Healthcare system.

Health of an individual is not seen as norms but profit by the present healthcare system. Most affected person is the insurance companies. For people who have mediclaim policies for undergoing any kind of surgical treatment, the insurance companies are going to pay the cost of such unnecessary surgery. Thus leading to undue pressure upon the economy. The report pointed that most of the government scheme which provide insurance cover to poor section of the society are worst hit by these unnecessary surgeries. The taxpayer money being pocketed in the form of insurance claims by the present healthcare institute. A pure drain of state economy.

The report focused prominently on the people who are affected with cardio-vascular diseases. One of dreaded disease in Indian Subcontinent. The faith in the Nobel profession make no person to question the diagnosis of the healthcare professionals. The faith leads to unnecessary surgeries. The second opinion of other healthcare professional is a little relief. The end result for privatizing healthcare system in India was evident in the media report.

While a state-run healthcare system avoid unnecessary surgery on patients, the doctor on private run healthcare recommend surgery for even simple ailments which is profit to those healthcare institutions. The approach of state-run healthcare institution were branded indifferent towards the patients. But the report busted all the myth cast upon the state run healthcare systems.

Source: 1. The report was extracted from the leading news agency, The Times of India.