Big Pharma experienced acute dizziness and irritability last month when House Ways and Means Chairman Charles B. Rangel (D-N.Y.) proposed rescinding the tax deduction for direct-to-consumer prescription drug advertising. This is the ad segment that brought you "Viva Viagra," the Ambien CR rooster and the Cialis couple-in-the-tubs, who I sincerely hope are soon struck by lightning. The segment accounts for about $5 billion in advertising per year. This is your IRS on drugs.
Predictably, the advertising/marketing community flew into a funk beyond the reach of Paxil and Cymbalta. Assn. of National Advertisers President and Chief Executive Bob Liodice, in high moral dudgeon, claimed in an Advertising Age editorial that the provision would violate the 1st Amendment (it wouldn't), endanger the public's health (hardly) and put Congress on a slippery slope of penalizing "controversial" products' advertising, which could "imperil many, if not all, product categories."
Indeed, the very foundations of the Republic rest on whether Pfizer can deduct the $121 million it spent in 2008 pushing Viagra on less-than-ardent oldsters.
I, for one, do not fear for the drug ad tax deduction. The pharmaceutical and health products industry disgorged more than $234 million upon Capitol Hill last year, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. I'm sure Big Pharma's voice will be heard.
READ MORE @ LOS ANGELES TIMES
Showing posts with label legislation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label legislation. Show all posts
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Friday, June 27, 2008
DEA seeks new restrictions on Internet pharmacies
Illicit Internet pharmacies are helping abusers obtain controlled drugs such as the anti-anxiety medication Xanax, the painkiller Vicodin and anabolic steroids, the Drug Enforcement Administration told a House subcommittee on Tuesday.
The DEA wants Congress to require that drugs be sold over the Internet only on the basis of "valid prescriptions" that are written after face-to-face medical evaluations or, under special circumstances, through telemedicine.
Patrick Egan, a Philadelphia lawyer who specializes in Internet pharmacy regulations, countered that the DEA's proposed requirements would impose a hardship on rural and poor patients who use Internet pharmacies to reduce prescription drug costs. Telemedicine might solve part of the problem, he said, but not for patients who can't afford a consultation.
Other witnesses before the House Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security said that federal regulation of Internet drug sites is needed. State regulations vary widely, said William Winsley, the executive director of the Ohio State Board of Pharmacy, and illicit Internet drug site operators seek out the least regulated ones.
READ MORE @ MCCLATCHY WASHINGTON BUREAU
The DEA wants Congress to require that drugs be sold over the Internet only on the basis of "valid prescriptions" that are written after face-to-face medical evaluations or, under special circumstances, through telemedicine.
Patrick Egan, a Philadelphia lawyer who specializes in Internet pharmacy regulations, countered that the DEA's proposed requirements would impose a hardship on rural and poor patients who use Internet pharmacies to reduce prescription drug costs. Telemedicine might solve part of the problem, he said, but not for patients who can't afford a consultation.
Other witnesses before the House Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security said that federal regulation of Internet drug sites is needed. State regulations vary widely, said William Winsley, the executive director of the Ohio State Board of Pharmacy, and illicit Internet drug site operators seek out the least regulated ones.
READ MORE @ MCCLATCHY WASHINGTON BUREAU
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Drug bill would give doctors unbiased details on medication
Imagine our doctors getting an unbiased education on the medications they prescribe instead of having to rely on drug company sales reps to tell them what's on the market and how well it works.
That's already happening in other countries -- Australia, England, the Netherlands and some provinces of Canada. It's happening -- or about to -- in some parts of the United States, too, including Maine, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Vermont and Washington, D.C.
Ohio and the rest of the nation could see the same thing if a couple of U.S. senators get their way.
Democrats Herb Kohl of Wisconsin and Dick Durbin of Illinois are writing a bill that would provide accurate and objective drug information to any doctor in America who wants it.
Government-funded pharmacists and nurses who've studied the drugs -- all of them, even generics and over-the-counter ones -- and who understand their pros and cons would prepare the information and present it to doctors interested in having it. And the information would be available to consumers, those of us who end up having to take this stuff.
READ MORE @ THE PLAIN DEALER
That's already happening in other countries -- Australia, England, the Netherlands and some provinces of Canada. It's happening -- or about to -- in some parts of the United States, too, including Maine, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Vermont and Washington, D.C.
Ohio and the rest of the nation could see the same thing if a couple of U.S. senators get their way.
Democrats Herb Kohl of Wisconsin and Dick Durbin of Illinois are writing a bill that would provide accurate and objective drug information to any doctor in America who wants it.
Government-funded pharmacists and nurses who've studied the drugs -- all of them, even generics and over-the-counter ones -- and who understand their pros and cons would prepare the information and present it to doctors interested in having it. And the information would be available to consumers, those of us who end up having to take this stuff.
READ MORE @ THE PLAIN DEALER
Saturday, September 22, 2007
Senate approves FDA drug-safety bill
Congress gave final approval Thursday to legislation designed to transform the Food and Drug Administration from a passive monitor to an active detective seeking out medications that have been approved for sale but turn out to be hazardous -- a problem linked to an estimated 15,000 deaths a year.
The drug-safety provisions were the centerpiece of a massive bill that also would renew industry user fees that fund the FDA's review of medications and medical devices submitted for approval.
The Senate passed the bill without objection Thursday evening after the House overwhelmingly passed it Wednesday. The White House has not commented on the final version of the bill, but President Bush is expected to sign it, congressional aides said.
In addition to building a new computerized system to spot drug risks, the bill would strengthen the FDA's enforcement powers and require greater disclosure of private and public clinical research and of agency decision-making. It also would take steps to reduce FDA reliance on outside advisors with financial conflicts of interest, as well as create a new program to review drug company advertising.
READ MORE @ LOS ANGELES TIMES
The drug-safety provisions were the centerpiece of a massive bill that also would renew industry user fees that fund the FDA's review of medications and medical devices submitted for approval.
The Senate passed the bill without objection Thursday evening after the House overwhelmingly passed it Wednesday. The White House has not commented on the final version of the bill, but President Bush is expected to sign it, congressional aides said.
In addition to building a new computerized system to spot drug risks, the bill would strengthen the FDA's enforcement powers and require greater disclosure of private and public clinical research and of agency decision-making. It also would take steps to reduce FDA reliance on outside advisors with financial conflicts of interest, as well as create a new program to review drug company advertising.
READ MORE @ LOS ANGELES TIMES
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