American Home's Patent Deal Stalls US Health Bill

A row over a drug patent extension granted to American Home Products' antiarthritic drug Lodine (etodolac) last week resulted in the Senate passage of health insurance reforms being stalled. The normal patent expiry date for Lodine was 1995 and this was extended in 1992 to 1997, but Democrats have demanded that a further two-year patent extension through February 1999 should be deleted from the health bill before it is given final approval by the Senate. Democrats' complaints resulted in the provision being dropped from the legislation.