For those who are not aware, patents for any medicine formulas are valid for a total period of twenty years from the date they are first patented, after the expiry of this period any pharmaceutical company can make the same drug and market it, there is however another legal technicality. Normally all pharmaceutical companies register the brand name for their medicine which remains their property even after expiry of formula patent. Hence other companies, though are free to make the same drug but they can not use the original brand name to market it.
Indian supreme court has now set a new low by allowing indian copy caters to market the drug using the same registered brand name. An illegal and unethical move in my opinion.
Wrong, if the companies have made miniscule changes and patented the new formula, then copy caters should copy the previous formula not the new one, and besides as you said the miniscule changes should not affect the healing properties of the medicine.