Before the law was passed, the pharmaceutical companies lobbied hard against it. Both the United States and the European Union, on behalf of the companies, also lobbied against the law. After it was passed, threatened legal action prevented South Africa from implementing the law. In early 2001, 39 of the world's largest pharmaceutical companies filed suit to overturn the South African law. The pharmaceutical companies offered several arguments to sup¬port their claim. They argued that the law violated the property rights created by their patents, that they deserved profits to pay for previous research, that they needed future profits to fund further research, and that without an ade¬quate health care infrastructure to follow up and care for patients, the drugs would make little difference in the fight against AIDS. A few months later, in April 2001 the companies withdrew the lawsuit and agreed to negotiate with the South African government to find ways to make the drugs available at an affordable price. Some companies admitted that the lawsuit was a bad idea from the start and acknowledged that they should be working to help people with AIDS. Other companies conceded that they were influenced by strong international public opinion against the suit. By all accounts, the law¬suit was a public relations disaster. Critics further charged that the companies abandoned the suit only to avoid divulging information that they would have preferred to keep secret, including the amount of governmental support they receive for research, pricing policies, and the actual manufacturing costs of the drugs.