Pharmaceutical companies are accused of violating health rights in Brazil

Pharmaceutical companies Roche (Switzerland) and Boehringer Ingelheim (Germany) violate the right to public health in Brazil, under rules that protect intellectual property rights.

The Working Group on Intellectual Property (GTPI) of the Brazilian Network for the Integration of the Peoples (REBRIP) will file a lawsuit before the Peoples' Permanent Tribunal (PPT) against pharmaceutical companies Roche and Boehringer Ingelheim, which they question for violating the right to public health in Brazil. In both cases, the right to health is violated under rules that protect intellectual property rights, and more specifically under the new legal framework that regulates this matter at an international scale, with clear benefits for oligopolic practices.

The signatory countries of the World Trade Organization (WTO) have been forced to adapt their domestic laws to recognize the patents on technology, thus reducing the autonony of the states to legislate in that field. This led to an increasing power of transnational corporations of the sector – some of them accused before the PPT- and of their influence on the implementation of public policies at a national level.

In the case of Brazil, the plaintiffs fault Roche and Boehringer Ingelheim for violating research ethical standards; for restrictions on the access to technology and basic goods; and the threat to the national sovereignty. REBRIP emphasizes that this kind of practices have also taken place in other countries where the pharmaceutical companies are based.

Roche is a corporation with presence in 150 countries. The Brazilian network is accusing the company of aiming to interfere in the national legislation by means of legal actions.

In the case of Boehringer Ingelheim, which has 137 subsidiaries in 47 countries, the company is questioned over the violation of ethical standards in the research on human beings and for refusing to ask the registration in Brazil of drugs tested on Brazilian population.

Exposing these corporate abuses is a way of exposing the threats suffered by developing countries when the interests of corporations are not a priority for the authorities. Also, raising awareness on these cases contributes to the debate on intellectual property rights and the people's access to basic medicines. For this reason the case is filed before the PPT.

Key issues: New Constitutionalism and privatization of Justice

Denouncing organizations: Red Brasilera por la Integración de los Pueblos (REBRIP).