After India’s Patent Win, US Pharmaceuticals Suddenly Claim that Turmeric has no Medicinal Properties
In 1995 , two American researchers of the University of Mississippi Medical Center, put a claim to the US Patent and Trademark Office, maintaining that they had discovered haldi‘s healing properties. And, surprise, they were granted a patent in March 1995 for something you had known for years and our ayurveda for centuries.
The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research applied to the US Patent Office for a reexamination. This was after Indian scientists shouted from rooftops about how we are losing our traditional knowledge to marauding foreign companies who have started poaching on our ancient healing techniques. The US Patent Office in 1997 acknowledged it had made a mistake and cancelled the patent on turmeric. This is a major victory because seldom does it fully revoke a patent it has granted.
But now a new study says “In a new review of chemical evidence, scientists write that curcumin is an “unstable, reactive, non-bioavailable compound and, therefore, a highly improbable lead [for drug development].” The article concludes that “The resources being wasted on difficult curcumin research could instead be spent on thousands of other chemicals lying on shelves waiting to be tested” (Meaning you could research stuff off which we can make more money!)
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