Defining the right to health responsibilities of patent-owning pharmaceutical companies

The overlap in the mandates of the former Special Rapporteur on the right to health (Paul Hunt) and the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on business and human rights (John Ruggie) has resulted in some inconsistencies between the Guidelines developed by Hunt and the Guiding Principles developed by Ruggie concerning defining the precise scope of the right to health responsibilities of pharmaceutical companies. Nevertheless, defining the right to health responsibilities of pharmaceutical companies is possible through an interpretation of the Hunt Guidelines in the light of the Guiding Principles. This article focuses on defining the right to health responsibilities of patent-owning pharmaceutical companies. It contends that, for this definition of responsibilities to be meaningful, states must take seriously their primary responsibility of respecting, protecting, and fulfilling the right to health by incorporating a model of human rights into their national patent laws. Furthermore, pharmaceutical companies must take seriously their baseline responsibility of respecting the right to health and complying with the provisions contained in national patent laws that are designed to facilitate access to affordable medicines.