The Thai government is breaking patents on Western drugs, but such actionwill haveconsequences for theThailand,afflicted patients, and global health.

India is at a crossroads: it can protectintellectual property orlimit growth and innovation.

Every day patients receive treatments that do not work properly. For many this means no relief from symptoms, but for some death is the result. Yet concerted action against such products is limited. Before we can discuss why that's the case, I will attempt to explain what kind of products don’t work, and what we should call them.

Successfully translating scientific discoveries requires a sense of urgency, which some disease foundations seem to have, and many big pharmas appear to need. Patients waiting expectantly for medical research to produce important new cures are finding bad news almost everywhere they turn.

Drug makers aren't chasing blockbusters like Lipitor anymore, or uncovering compounds the same way.

Hopefully Thailand"s patent fight will increase global awareness on the replication of branded drugs.

The current fiscal crisis facing state and federal budgets is the largest in recent history. Continued wasteful spending in the Medicaid drug program is a problem requiring policymakers' prompt attention.

Indian bureaucrats and politicians must overcome short-term thinking and improve India's IP systems by ensuring that deserving products receive patents and making sure trademarks are enforced. Only then will India develop a true innovation economy.