At present, the U.S.—along with other wealthy nations where major pharmaceutical companies are based—is blocking India and South Africa's push for a patent waiver, which industry lobbying groups are mobilizing to crush.
Sonali Kolhatkar
Economy for All, Independent Media Institute
Pharmaceutical companies whose vaccines were funded by massive public investments, including Pfizer, BioNTech, Moderna, Johnson & Johnson and Merck, still refuse to share their intellectual property with the world.
The tragedy of American science lies in its drive for private profit over improving the human condition, resulting in Big Science being irredeemably corrupted by Big Money, poisoning the air, the water, the food we eat, and the medicines we take.
Why do we fail in protecting our own people’s health and well-being while we squander more than a trillion dollars each year – with the assent of both Republicans and Democrats – on maintaining a failed and futile military empire across the world?
From testing for coronavirus to treating the health impacts of climate change, universal healthcare and publicly owned medicine production are critical components for adapting to the coming crisis.
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