Reflecting on John Green’s Barely Contained Rage: An Open Letter to Johnson & Johnson
Source: YouTube
Some may know John Green as the author of “The Fault in Our Stars,” co-creator of Crash Course, or more recently, consultant to the film adaptation of his book “Turtles All the Way Down.” But a very separate, niche part of the internet has come to recognize him as a tuberculosis advocate over the greater part of a year, educating the internet from the top of his personal and professional platforms.
So it was not out of character when Johnson & Johnson threatened to enforce a secondary patent on Bedaquiline, a historically effective MultiDrug Resistant TB drug, that Green called to assemble his virtual Nerdfighteria posse. Especially since MDR TB is not only curable from a 1st world country standpoint, but these resources have not been extended globally where Johnson & Johnson must be prepared to accept responsibility for TB fatalities for the next 4 years citing inaccessibility.
As of 2 days ago, Bendaquiline’s patent expired allowing cheaper, generic alternatives to be produced and treat the world’s deadliest infectious disease, tuberculosis. But 4 years after the initial patent, the company filed for a secondary claim on the drug with a fumarate salt active ingredient; marketed under the name SIRTURO®; “The patent on the fumarate form would have been till 2027, thus extending it by four years. By grant of a patent in new forms, the patent term is extended, which is termed ‘evergreening’.
Now this is not to discredit the true geniuses: the scientists of J&J who spent their careers contributing to the existence of these drugs in the first place. But it is important to recognize the importance of this problem, despite its irrelevance to the Western medicinal world. Before thanking John Green, we must applaud Nandita Venkatesan and Phumeza Tisile, the young activists who successfully sued the Indian government in 2019 over the patent’s application to extend its monopoly.
Green stresses the idea of an ‘illness constituency,’ or the idea that we need to lend an ear to the residents of the kingdom of the ill and become activists for them. Because of his efforts, Stop TB Partnership tweeted a press release that said, “Johnson & Johnson has granted Stop TB Partnership’s Global Drug Facility’s licenses that enable Global Drug Facility (GDF) to tender, procure, and supply generic versions of SIRTURO® (bedaquiline) for the majority of low-and-middle-income countries, including countries where patents remain in effect”. Due to the newly gathered tuberculosis constituents, countries that qualify under J&J’s global guidelines are able to economize Bedalaquine. While it may not be a complete separation of capitalism from healthcare, it does provide aid to sufferers in highly-burneded countries. Though we do remember to congratulate Green on his action, which obviously echoed into the rooms of the correct people, ones that aided to merge science and politics.
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