Intellectual Property and the Pharmaceutical Industry: A Moral Crossroads between Health and Property
Journal of Business Ethics 55 (3):295 - 308 (2004)
| Abstract | The moral justification of intellectual property is often called into question when placed in the context of pharmaceutical patents and global health concerns. The theoretical accounts of both John Rawls and Robert Nozick provide an excellent ethical framework from which such questions can be clarified. While Nozick upholds an individual's right to intellectual property, based upon its conformation with Lockean notions of property and Nozick's ideas of just acquisition and transfer, Rawls emphasizes the importance of basic liberties, such as an individual's right to health, superceding such secondary rights as intellectual property rights. From a policy perspective, patent protection for pharmaceutical products necessarily entails the balancing of corporate intellectual property interests and public interests in healthcare. The moral dilemma that occurs when these two interests clash is not easily resolved. Aside from corporate and public interests, the state maintains an interest in creating and preserving policies that regulate the moral dilemma itself. This paper analyzes the economic and ethical factors surrounding the production and distribution of the anti-HIV medication, AZT. Potential policy implications and recommendations are also discussed. | |||||||||
| Keywords | No keywords specified (fix it) | |||||||||
| Categories | No categories specified (fix it) | |||||||||
| Options |
|
|||||||||
Download options| PhilPapers Archive |
Upload a copy of this paper Check publisher's policy on self-archival Papers currently archived: 5,875 |
| External links |
 |
| Through your library | Configure |
Similar books and articlesRivka Amado & Nevin M. Gewertz (2004). Intellectual Property and the Pharmaceutical Industry: A Moral Crossroads Between Health and Property. Journal of Business Ethics 55 (3).
Meri Koivusalo (2010). Common Health Policy Interests and the Shaping of Global Pharmaceutical Policies. Ethics and International Affairs 24 (4):395-414.
D. B. Resnik (2003). A Pluralistic Account of Intellectual Property. Journal of Business Ethics 46 (4):319 - 335.
Joseph Millum (2008). Are Pharmaceutical Patents Protected by Human Rights? Journal of Medical Ethics 34 (11):e25-e25.
Kenneth Einar Himma (2011). Richard Spinello and Maria Bottis: Understanding the Debate on the Legal Protection of Moral Intellectual Property Interests: Review Essay of A Defense of Intellectual Property Rights. Ethics and Information Technology 13 (3):283-288.
David Lea (2006). From the Wright Brothers to Microsoft: Issues in the Moral Grounding of Intellectual Property Rights. Business Ethics Quarterly 16 (4):579-598.
James Wilson (2009). Could There Be a Right to Own Intellectual Property? Law and Philosophy 28 (4):393 - 427.
Paul Steidlmeier (1993). The Moral Legitimacy of Intellectual Property Claims: American Business and Developing Country Perspectives. Journal of Business Ethics 12 (2):157 - 164.
Hugh Breakey (2010). Natural Intellectual Property Rights and the Public Domain. Modern Law Review 73 (2):208-239.
Francis Gurry (2005). The Growing Complexity of International Policy in Intellectual Property. Science and Engineering Ethics 11 (1).
Jeremy Waldron (2005). Nozick and Locke: Filling the Space of Rights. Social Philosophy and Policy 22 (1):81-110.
Adam Mossoff (2012). Saving Locke From Marx: The Labor Theory of Value in Intellectual Property Theory. Social Philosophy and Policy 29 (2):283-317.
Analytics
Monthly downloads |
Added to index2011-05-29Total downloads10 ( #107,734 of 556,840 )Recent downloads (6 months)1 ( #64,931 of 556,840 )How can I increase my downloads? |
My notes
Discussion
