As the United States navigates the coronavirus pandemic, many are counting on the development of effective vaccines and treatments to help alleviate our public health crisis. But will pharmaceutical companies price vaccines and treatments fairly so that everyone can use them?
On Thursday, May 28, the ACS New York, Austin, Chicago, Los Angeles, Michigan, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Northeast Ohio, Puget Sound, San Diego, and Washington, DC Chapters, along with a panel of legal, policy, and medical experts, explored existing legal tools and proposed legislation to protect the American people from attempts to charge unaffordable prices for coronavirus treatments and vaccines. The panel discussed various tools that could be used to promote equitable access, including overriding drug patents for public use, government march-in rights to counteract high prices for taxpayer-funded drugs, and public manufacturing of coronavirus-related treatments and products.
Kathryn Ardizzone, Counsel, Knowledge Ecology International
Abdul El-Sayed, Physician, Epidemiologist, Public Health Expert, and Progressive Activist
Osaremen Fortune Okolo, Senior Health Policy Advisor, Office of Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky (IL-09)
Zain Rizvi, Law & Policy Researcher, Public Citizen
Joel Dodge, Lecturer in Law, Columbia Law School; Member, ACS New York Lawyer Chapter Board of Directors
