Skip to main content

The timeline can be navigated with the “Scroll Left” and “Scroll Right” buttons or by dragging the pointer to a date on the timeline waveform (located at the bottom of the screen on the desktop version and on the left of the screen on mobile). To filter by a particular topic and see a smaller section of the data, make a selection on the dropdown “Filters” menu or click “Search” to do a keyword search. Hover over the abbreviated filter tags in the blue boxes to see the complete name of the filter, or click a filter to display all the data with this tag. If you want to take a deeper dive into a specific topic by viewing a narrative essay page and a curated timeline, click on “Stories.”

Read More

The Drug Price Competition and Patent Term Restoration Act passes.

Date: 1984

PHA
LLP
CORP

Also known as the "Hatch-Waxman Act," this act encourages the pharmaceutical industry to manufacture generic drugs, and establishes the modern system of government generic drug regulation in the United States.

Representative Henry Waxman of California and Senator Orrin Hatch of Utah sponsor the act. One of the major loopholes in the act allows brand-name drug companies to obtain a 30-month patent extension on a drug by suing a generic manufacturer.