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The Plumpy’nut Controversy

Running Head: The Plumpy’nut Controversy

The Plumpy’nut Controversy

Statement of the Plumpy’nut Controversy

Presently, there are millions of children that are suffering from malnutrition at all around the world that require any specific treatment and nutritious food to survive. In this situation, for better treatment, it is required to provide them nutrition to save their lives, but it is not an easy task. Although, there is an option of Plumpy’nut to combat with this adverse situation, but the production is very less than the requirement. Plumpy’nut is a patented product of Nutriset Company that protect from illegal production by other companies in the world. In this concern, it is necessary to think about the Plumpy’nut Controversy and its ethical issues. At this point of view, the three ethical issues of the Plumpy’nut Controversy are as follows:

First Ethical Issue: When the US companies break the Intellectual Property right, it would be an ethical issue of patent’s rules and regulations because patents are an essential factor in innovation that ensures a possibility of reward for respected companies. The major investment needed to develop new medicines and most of the funds comes from investors for new R&D initiatives (Goter & Princo, 2011). At this stage, when any company would break the IP right, there would be loss of investment of investors and nobody would take an interest in investment in new R&D initiatives in future.

Second Ethical Issue: The Nutriset is preventing its Plumpy’nut® formula through patent and not giving opportunities to other companies to increase production of Plumpy’nut to combat with a growing global epidemic of malnutrition in children. In this scenario, there is an ethical issue because Nutriset is not making full efforts to increase production to remove malnutrition of children and save their lives (Cotter, 2006). Further, patents on innovative medicines basically concerned with improving patients’ health worldwide, but the lack of enough production according to the requirement is raising an ethical issue of patents.

Third Ethical Issue: Nutriset is misusing IP right by charging the high cost of the product. Here, Nutriset is monopoly in production of Plumpy’nut and setting high price of this product is showing a lack of responsibility for the welfare of human being. It means, Nutriset is taking more benefit of patent right that is an ethical issue in the health-care scenario (Elhauge, 2009).

References

Cotter, T.F. (2006). The Procompetitive Interest in Intellectual Property Law. American Law & Economics Association Papers, (39), 1-81.

Elhauge, E. (2009). TYING, BUNDLED DISCOUNTS, AND THE DEATH OF THE SINGLE MONOPOLY PROFIT THEORY. Harvard Law Review. 123 (2), 399-481.

Goter, P.W. & Princo, I. (2011). Patent Pools, and the Risk of Foreclosure: A Framework for Assessing Misuse. Law Review, 96 (2), 699-735.