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Is There a Role for Eminent Domain?

Aaron S. Kesselheim, MD, JD; Jerry Avorn, MD

JAMA. 2006;295:434-437.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

As a government-sanctioned monopoly, a drug patent allows its owner to prevent others from making, using, or selling a given medication for a set amount of time. Patents can help encourage and reward scientific innovation in the pharmaceutical industry. But some drug companies have been criticized for restricting access to products in the face of actual or potential public health emergencies¹ or distorting the patent system in pursuit of higher revenues.²

One example has been pharmaceutical manufacturers' aggressive management of patent rights for AIDS drugs, making them unaffordable in developing countries.³ Patents on pharmaceutical products can also harm the public health by limiting availability of drugs to treat, for example, tuberculosis⁴ and cancer,⁵ although controversy exists over what factors provide the greatest barriers to access in some settings.⁶ Recently, Roche came under pressure because its oseltamivir phosphate (Tamiflu) may be useful in . . . [Full Text of this Article]

Health Care Patents and the Public Good

Author Affiliations: Division of Pharmacoepidemiology and Pharmacoeconomics, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Mass.

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