ALBANY, N.Y., April 25 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Today AARP, New York State legislators, and consumer organizations unveiled an aggressive and comprehensive state legislative package to combat drug company marketing schemes that promote new, high-cost, brand-name drugs to consumers. The average price of brand-name drugs in 2006 was $111 versus $32 for generics.
Pharmaceutical companies' marketing tactics include buying data on the drugs that individual doctors are prescribing to their patients in order to target their sales activities to these physicians. Drug companies also spend a reported $7 billion on marketing their high-cost, brand-name drugs to doctors. These marketing practices, which include gifts such as meals, entertainment, and free trips, are used to persuade doctors to prescribe more expensive brand-name drugs rather than equally effective, lower cost drugs, such as generics.
"Sophisticated marketing schemes, lavish trips and free meals should not dictate what drugs get prescribed in our state, especially when other equally effective drugs such as generics are available," said Lois Aronstein, AARP NYS Director. "AARP commends the sponsors of this Rx Marketing Reform Package: Senator Maziarz, Senator DeFrancisco, Assemblyman Gottfried, and Assemblyman Cahill for standing up for their constituents against the powerful drug lobby in Albany."
The Rx Marketing Reform Package consists of two bills. The bills are opposed by the Pharmaceutical Industry, NYS Medical Society, and prescription drug data collection companies. The bills are as follows:
-- Senator Maziarz/Assemblyman Gottfried Legislation -- requires drug companies to annually report to the New York State Department of Health for disclosure to the public, all gifts (excluding free samples) to health care practitioners who prescribe drugs when such gifts have a value of $75 or more.
-- Senator DeFrancisco/Assemblyman Cahill Legislation -- prohibits the sale of physician prescription records when the records will be used to market prescription drugs to doctors and other medical personnel who write prescriptions.
"Keeping drugs affordable and accessible requires making sure they are prescribed based on scientific effectiveness and evidence, as opposed to a slick sales pitch and fine dining," added Aronstein. "These bills will go far to ensure that it's scientific knowledge and the best interest of patients, not reciprocity, conscious or unconscious, that serve as the basis for our prescriptions."
AARP's Rx Marketing Reform campaign will include advocacy efforts as well as educational outreach aimed at counterbalancing the drug industry's influence and improving the way drugs are marketed in New York State. AARP will work with its more than 180 New York chapters and thousands of AARP
volunteer activists to highlight the need for drug marketing reform legislation to their elected officials and in their local communities.
"New Yorkers deserve to find out the degree to which their doctors' prescribing may be influenced by gifts from manufacturers. Prescribing practices influenced more by gifts than science harm patients and run up health care costs overall," said Arthur Aaron Levin, MPH, Executive Director, Center for Medical Consumers.
"Patients need to know whether the doctors who are treating them have financial ties to drug makers, ties that could bias a physician when reaching for the prescription pad," said Russ Haven, NYPIRG Legislative Counsel. "Minnesota's disclosure law shows that pharmaceutical companies paid $97 million to doctors and others in that state's health industry from 1997-2005. It's a safe bet substantially more money was spent in New York during that time period."
"We strongly support the proposed legislation to prohibit drug company 'data mining' of physician prescribing records," said Chuck Bell, Programs Director of Consumers Union. "Most consumers -- and many doctors -- are shocked to learn that drug companies can obtain detailed data on how many prescriptions an individual physician has written for a particular drug. The drug companies use this information to further hone and target their marketing campaigns, by ramping up their promotional spending and sales visits."
AARP has over 2.6 million members in New York State. AARP is a nonprofit, nonpartisan membership organization that helps people 50+ have independence, choice and control in ways that are beneficial and affordable to them and society as a whole. We produce AARP The Magazine, published bimonthly; AARP Bulletin, our monthly newspaper; AARP Segunda Juventud, our bimonthly magazine in Spanish and English; NRTA Live & Learn, our quarterly newsletter for 50+ educators; and our website, AARP.org. AARP Foundation is an affiliated charity that provides security, protection, and empowerment to older persons in need with support from thousands of volunteers, donors, and sponsors. We have staffed offices in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Contacts: Luci DeHaan, 212 407-3718
Bill Ferris, 518-447-6712
AARP
