I see that the hypocrites are at it again.

Trying to build an anti-Bush groundswell, The Wall Street Journal [I don't have a subscription, so screw the link.] is publishing pretty much a rehash of a July 14 Washington Post article U.S. Rule on AIDS Drugs Criticized: Ban on Using Aid to Buy Foreign Generics Hinders Treatment, Experts Say (By Ellen Nakashima and David Brown Washington Post Foreign Service Wednesday, July 14, 2004; Page A12). It's updated, but both articles are based on the same GAO Reports and Testimony: Report Abstract">GAO study. It's just interesting that that study is from mid-July. The only thing new, really, is that the Wall Street Journal mentions that, as soon as the Administration responds to their report, the GAO will publish a final version.

The WSJ also provides more quotes from those sympathetic to the patent issues involved and the difficulties of filing for FDA approval, which discourages foreign drug firms from attempting it. A long time problem we libertarians have been bitching about for at least 20 years. (Although, the fact that the FDA also wants to inspect their production facilities, may deter some of them.) Oh, and the WHO has even withdrawn its "prequalified" status from some of the drugs involved. Of course, everything in this paragraph can be found on page B4, rather than on the front of the Marketplace section. The front page is all hammer, hammer, hammer at the Bush Administration and U.S. drugmakers. WSJ reporters come from the same schools as NYT reporters.

Here's the Senate announcement: Daschle, McCain, Kennedy Request GAO Study the Cost of HIV/AIDS Drugs.

I wonder how those guys feel about outsourcing.

Hey! Lot's of information on the issue here: The HIV/AIDS crisis: Intellectual Property and Access to Medicines.