ABSTRACT
The chapter argues that human rights lead to a moral dilemma. It begins by demonstrating that the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) agreement has caused concern due to its impact on accessibility to essential medicines. It is asked whether essential medicines can be seen as a human right by involving Alan Gewirth's deontological concept of rights and the Principle of Generic Consistency (PGC). It argues that pharmaceutical companies can be regarded as agents, and accordingly, have rights and obligations, and hence a moral responsibility to help increase economic and geographical accessibility to essential drugs. The pharmaceutical industry is subject to international rules such as TRIPS. Using the rule consequentialist approach, the chapter asserts that TRIPS however does not maximize utility in developing countries, and, for this reason, contradicts the human rights requirements of the PGC.
