Drug Companies To Pour $100M Into Battle Against Price Control Ballot Initiative
The initiative, likened by one lobbyist to a "grenade being rolled into the conversation," would require the state to pay no more for prescription drugs than the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, and the industry is gearing up to fight back.
Politico:
Drug Makers Spend Big To Fight California Price Control Referendum
Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton give drug makers the jitters when they talk about Medicare negotiating the prices of prescription drugs. But the biggest near-term threat to the industry comes from a California ballot initiative that would test a version of that idea in the most populous state. That ballot initiative “is a grenade being rolled into the conversation, and it is being taken very seriously,” says a Republican drug lobbyist in Washington, D.C. (Cook and Karlin-Smith, 4/25)
In other news, a "take back" law, which would require pharmaceutical companies to design, manage and pay for the collection and disposal of unused prescription medicines and sharps, is scheduled to come before the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors next month —
KPCC:
Proposed LA County Law Would Make Pharma Pay For Drug, Sharps Disposal
The ordinance would require pharmaceutical companies to design, manage and pay for the collection and disposal of unused prescription medicines and sharps. It would be the largest such program in the nation. Five Northern California counties have similar ordinances that are limited to unused medicines; one in Santa Cruz is the first in the nation to include medical sharps. (O'Neill, 4/22)