http://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-africa-40300824/tanzania-albino-attacks-my-neighbour-hacked-off-my-hands

In the case of traditional medicines, the problem is more complex than a failure of some national patent regimes. the knowledge of indigenous peoples typically takes a form like: “make an infusion of a handful of the leaves of X in a litre of boiling water and steep for ten minutes.” They don’t know what substance or substances actually has the effect. They have no way of standardizing the dose if, as is often the case, the concentration of the active ingredient is variable. In some cases this does not matter, but in some cases the difference between an effective dose and a toxic dose is small. They don’t know about interactions between this drug and others. When scientists learn of a traditional remedy and develop it, they: (a) identify the active ingredient or ingredients; (b) determine how efficacious it actually is; (c) determine the effective dose; (d) determine toxicity; (e) investigate interactions with other drugs; (f) develop a method of providing standard doses, either by synthesizing the drug or by processing of natural materials containing variable amounts. A great deal of research is required to go from a natural remedy to a modern medication, and most of the information developed will not have been known to the indigenous people from whom the drug originates. As I understand patent law, the knowledge that an extract of a certain plant has a certain medicinal effect would not constitute prior art for a modern drug inspired by it, nor should it, given the extensive research required to produce a modern drug. It is understandable that indigenous people should want some credit for their discoveries and that they should not be legally barred from using their traditional discoveries by patents on developments based on them, but it is also necessary to recognize that pharmaceutical companies, for all their faults, do not simply learn of indigenous medicines, patent them, and start selling them.

Bob

But think of what we Jews o if this were banned! We could stop Christians from “appropriating” the Hebrew Bible in their “New Testament”.