PLoS Medicine
(Accessed 3 October 2010)
http://medicine.plosjournals.org/perlserv/?request=browse&issn=1549-1676&method=pubdate&search_fulltext=1&order=online_date&row_start=1&limit=10&document_count=1533&ct=1&SESSID=aac96924d41874935d8e1c2a2501181c#results

Are Drug Companies Living Up to Their Human Rights Responsibilities? Moving Toward Assessment
Sofia Gruskin, Zyde Raad
The PLoS Medicine Debate, published 28 Sep 2010
doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.1000310

Abstract
Background to the debate
The human rights responsibilities of drug companies have been considered for years by nongovernmental organizations, but were most sharply defined in a report by the UN Special Rapporteur on the right to health, submitted to the United Nations General Assembly in August 2008. The “Human Rights Guidelines for Pharmaceutical Companies in relation to Access to Medicines” include responsibilities for transparency, management, monitoring and accountability, pricing, and ethical marketing, and against lobbying for more protection in intellectual property laws, applying for patents for trivial modifications of existing medicines, inappropriate drug promotion, and excessive pricing. Two years after the release of the Guidelines, the PLoS Medicine Debate asks whether drug companies are living up to their human rights responsibilities. Sofia Gruskin and Zyde Raad from the Harvard School of Public Health say more assessment is needed of such responsibilities; Geralyn Ritter, Vice President of Global Public Policy and Corporate Responsibility at Merck & Co. argues that multiple stakeholders could do more to help States deliver the right to health; and Paul Hunt and Rajat Khosla introduce Mr. Hunt’s work as the UN Special Rapporteur on the right to the highest attainable standard of health, regarding the human rights responsibilities of pharmaceutical companies and access to medicines.
Are Drug Companies Living Up to Their Human Rights Responsibilities? The Merck Perspective
Geralyn S. Ritter
The PLoS Medicine Debate, published 28 Sep 2010
doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.1000343
Drug Companies Should Be Held More Accountable for Their Human Rights Responsibilities
Editorial, published 28 Sep 2010
doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.1000344