Supreme Court needs to overturn monopoly for life-saving breast, ovarian tests
The gay rights battle over marriage equality seemed to edge out most other political issues in the national news cycle last month, but that doesn’t mean other big things weren’t on the Supreme Court’s agenda. The court began to hear arguments in the trial against research giant Myriad Genetics for its genetic patents Monday.
The Public Patent Foundation and the American Civil Liberties Union jointly filed a lawsuit against Myriad Genetics in 2009 for their 20-year patent on BRCA1 and BRCA2, two genes that have been linked with breast and ovarian cancer. Such work, especially any advancements in the field of cancer treatment, is commendable, but that doesn’t mean we should give Myriad a free pass.
These patents would prevent anyone, except for the patent holder, from “studying, testing or even looking at a gene,” which many fear could stifle future research, according to the American Civil Liberties Union.
Whenever an innovative breakthrough occurs in the scientific world, our government uses the patent system to allow inventors to profit from their hard work. To those at Myriad, the energy they put into research allows them to claim an inherent right to “own” their research of these two genes. The separation and linking of this gene to these types of cancer is new, but the mutation of the cells, or the mere forming of them in the first place, is not.
This is precisely why many question the validity of genetic patents. Critics feel it isn’t right for a company to claim to “own” a part of the human body. They don’t challenge that it’s right for a company to be rewarded for their scientific investigation, and they don’t want to discount Myriad’s significant financial investment in their research. However, they feel allowing Myriad to be the sole gatekeeper of this revolutionary knowledge could reduce the public’s benefit from it.
That’s an issue in this Supreme Court trial. Many find Myriad’s aggressive price for a genetic test — The corporation is charging $2,000 for a test that only costs them about $300 to administer — an outrageous, monopolistic practice the government should work to reduce. Myriad has said the company is merely trying to recover a portion of the research expenses, but the high price makes the test much less accessible to people at risk for cancer, whom we can all agree deserve the benefits of life-saving research.
To ensure the public benefits from research and knowledge, the Supreme Court should agree with the plaintiffs. There’s too much at stake to not release Myriad’s hold on BRCA1 and BRCA2. Allowing others to research these genes is a life-or-death matter.