Title |
Government Patent Use to Address the Rising Cost of Naloxone: 28 U.S.C. § 1498 and Evzio
|
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Published in |
The Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics, January 2021
|
DOI | 10.1177/1073110518782954 |
Pubmed ID | |
Authors |
Alex Wang, Aaron S Kesselheim |
Abstract |
The rising cost of the opioid antagonist and overdose reversal agent naloxone is an urgent public health problem. The recent and dramatic price increase of Evzio, a naloxone auto-injector produced by Kaléo, shows how pharmaceutical manufacturers entering the naloxone marketplace rely on market exclusivity guaranteed by the patent system to charge prices at what the market can bear, which can restrict access to life-saving medication. We argue that 28 U.S.C. § 1498, a section of the federal code that allows the government to use patent-protected products for its own purposes in exchange for reasonable compensation, could be used to procure generic naloxone auto-injectors, or at least bring Kaléo to the negotiating table. Precedent exists for the use of § 1498 to procure pharmaceuticals, and it could give meaning to the federal government's recent declaration of a public health emergency around the opioid epidemic, discourage new market entrants from charging exorbitant prices, and yield important public health benefits. |
X Demographics
Geographical breakdown
Country | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
United States | 6 | 67% |
New Zealand | 1 | 11% |
Unknown | 2 | 22% |
Demographic breakdown
Type | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Members of the public | 7 | 78% |
Practitioners (doctors, other healthcare professionals) | 1 | 11% |
Science communicators (journalists, bloggers, editors) | 1 | 11% |
Mendeley readers
Geographical breakdown
Country | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Unknown | 27 | 100% |
Demographic breakdown
Readers by professional status | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Researcher | 5 | 19% |
Student > Bachelor | 4 | 15% |
Student > Master | 3 | 11% |
Professor | 2 | 7% |
Other | 1 | 4% |
Other | 3 | 11% |
Unknown | 9 | 33% |
Readers by discipline | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Medicine and Dentistry | 4 | 15% |
Nursing and Health Professions | 3 | 11% |
Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutical Science | 2 | 7% |
Economics, Econometrics and Finance | 2 | 7% |
Social Sciences | 2 | 7% |
Other | 4 | 15% |
Unknown | 10 | 37% |