On August 17, California lawmakers killed a drug price transparency bill, putting to rest a policy that would have major implications on the pharmaceutical industry in the United States’ most populous state. The bill, which was first introduced by State Senator Ed Hernandez (D-West Covina) in February 2016, sought to require drug makers to report and explain any price pharmaceutical increase of ten percent within any given twelve-month period, as well as justify any drug price of at least $10,000 within thirty days of moving to that amount and require insurers to disclose how much money they spent on drugs. While the bill received far-reaching support from healthcare providers, insurers, patient advocacy groups, labor groups, and business groups alike, it was met with fervent opposition by pharmaceutical companies.
According to the Los Angeles Times and lobbying activity filings, Hernandez’s legislation was one of the most lobbied bills of current the session, with at least seventy groups spending money to advocate for or against it. “It’s probably amongst one of the more heavily lobbied bills — similar to tobacco and the most controversial bills,” the measure’s author, Senator Hernandez, told The Times. However, by August 17, after four amendments, Hernandez pulled the plug on it entirely, stating that the amendments made it difficult to accomplish the bill’s intention, which would have “shed[] light on the reasons precipitating skyrocketing drug prices.”
The demise of this legislation is another huge win for Big Pharma lobbyist PhRMA, which in October 2015 won a summary judgment ruling in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, blocking certain hospitals from receiving discounts for pricey orphan drugs. It also comes at a time when pharmaceutical companies, biotech firms, and orphan-drug makers have come under high scrutiny for price gouging, including the 5,455% price increase of HIV and Malaria-treatment medication, Daraprim, from $13.50 to $750 per pill in September 2015. Earlier this month, the uptick of the price of the allergic reaction-treating EpiPen Auto-injector medical device – from $57 to $600 between 2007 and 2016 – as its maker anticipates the arrival of a generic competitor, though, its non-generic, brand name competitor Auvi-Q was recalled in 2015 over dosage concerns.
A proponent for changes to Big Pharma since the 1990s, United States Senate Bernie Sanders (I – VT) made “out of control” prescription drug pricing a key issue during his 2016 presidential campaign. After winning the Democratic nomination, Presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton has carried the torch, speaking out on drastic price increases, sending stocks for EpiPen-maker, Mylan, tumbling.
With little being done by the United States Congress on the issue of drug price transparency, fourteen state legislatures have introduced measures to reign in prices. As of 2016, only Vermont has been successful in passing a bill, while others stall or fail outright, as is the case in California.
The pricing war in California now marches to the ballot in November. Citizens will vote on an initiative that would prohibit state agencies, like Medical (the state’s version of Medicaid) and Medicare from being charged any more for drugs than the United States Department of Veterans’ Affairs.