District Judge Stanley Chesler of the US District Court for the District of New Jersey has ruled in the favor of Johnson & Johnson in an infringement suit over its U.S. Patent No. 4,513,006 (the ‘006 patent) for epilepsy drug Topamax, generically known as Topiramate and thus prohibiting Mylan to sell generic Topamax before expiry of the ‘006 patent. In October 2006, J&J also won a preliminary injunction against Mylan which got US FDA approval for its generic Topamax in September 2006. Mylan during court proceedings argued that the ‘006 patent on Topamax was invalid because its subject matter would have been “obvious” to a person having ordinary skill in the drug research. Judge Chesler, in his Feb. 02 ruling, said he found Mylan’s arguments unpersuasive. He said the generic drugmaker "has not presented even a theory of obviousness."
I hope that District Judge Stanley Chesler becomes ill and desolate with no medical insurance so he can see how well he can afford medications! Even U.S. citizens with average jobs and average medical insurance find it hard to afford the medicines they need because of the high price brand name on them. The big, filthy rich drug companies continue to get richer at the expense of the people they are suppose to be helping. The mission statement of Johnson & Johnson should be, "Take from the poor no matter who it hurts!" I wonder how much money they gave Judge Chesler for his verdict. Other countries such as Canada have access to generic topiramate, but U.S. drug companies and the U.S. have to make all the money they can possibly squeeze out of U.S. citizens before they will a generic brand in.
ReplyDeleteMy name is Mary Davis and i would like to show you my personal experience with Topamax.
ReplyDeleteI am 46 years old. Have been on Topamax for 30 days now. I would not take this for migraines. I've tried everything for migraines but this was by far the worst experience I've had with any medication. I'm sticking with my Imitrex injections.
I have experienced some of these side effects -
I had the tingling feeling in my hands and feet. But I also kept having memory issues. Friends kept teasing me and saying I was on Dopamax. I thought it would get better. One day I started having constant seizures and ended up in Neurology ICU for five days. Almost killed me! It wasn't until they had me completely off Topamax that I finally became coherent. I remember nothing while in the hospital ICU. I was totally out of it.
I hope this information will be useful to others,
Mary Davis