Should We Steal Cipro?
Oct 23, 2001

       MARINA DEL REY, CA--Some U.S. senators propose to violate Bayer's patent rights to Cipro, its drug for treating anthrax. We must do so, these Senators argue, because of the increased demand for Cipro, which they claim Bayer is unable to meet.

       Senator Charles E. Schumer (D-NY), for instance, called on the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to invoke a federal statute, which allows the government, in effect, to give the formula for Cipro to others who may then manufacture it without Bayer's consent and sell it for less than Bayer.

       "Federal law may allow patent-violations, but that law is immoral and unnecessary--even in this emergency," said Dr. Yaron Brook, executive director of the Ayn Rand Institute. "A proper government is supposed to protect property rights--not violate them. For the same reason that the government shouldn't violate freedom of speech or freedom of the press in this emergency, it shouldn't violate property rights. Protection of our individual rights--all of them--is the reason why we are fighting this war. Senators should leave the violation of rights to the terrorists. Patent rights are especially vital to preserve, because they protect the source of our material production and prosperity: new ideas. As Ayn Rand wrote, 'patents are the heart and core of property rights and once destroyed, the destruction of all other rights will follow automatically, as a brief postscript.'"

       So what should we do to get enough Cipro? "Let the price of Cipro rise to meet the surge in demand," said Dr. Brook, a former finance professor, "and it will become profitable for Bayer to license its patent to other companies for a fee--and the market's demand will be swiftly met. In this emergency, anyone truly committed to preserving our rights would be glad to pay twice as much for Cipro. It's worth it, and the life-preserving creators of Cipro deserve the profit. The ethical and practical method of increasing production, here as everywhere else, is individual rights and the free-market."


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Dr. Yaron Brook is available for interviews. To interview Dr. Brook or book him for your show, please e-mail media@aynrandcenter.org

For more articles by Yaron Brook, and his bio, click here.