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China may ignore US IP rights on pharmaceuticals in brewing trade war
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China may take the "the nuclear option" of ceasing to honour US patents and copyrights, including those of pharmaceutical firms such as Pfizer.
PHOTO: AFP
BEIJING - In one heart-rending scene of a surprise summer hit here "Dying to Survive", an elderly leukaemia patient begs a detective to end his investigation into the smuggling of illegal generic drugs - which are one-eightieth the cost of the real deal - from India into China.
"Since I became ill, the (legal) drugs have cost me my home and bled my family dry," the patient says. "Now we have an affordable option, yet you insist that they are fake."
