Prescription Drug Marketing Examined
Assembly Hearing in New York City on Friday, February 1

Drug company marketing practices and proposals for reform will come under legislative scrutiny at a public hearing by the Assembly Health Committee.

WHEN: Friday, February 1, 2008 at 10 a.m.

WHERE:
Assembly Hearing Room, 19th Fl., 250 Broadway

WHO:

  • Assembly Health Committee chair Richard N. Gottfried

  • Commissioner of Health Dr. Richard Daines;

  • Dr. Daniel Carlat, professor of psychiatry at Tufts University and former marketing consultant for Wyeth Pharmaceuticals;

  • PhRMA;

  • AARP;

  • Consumers Union; and

  • other leading national and state experts from the advocacy and business communities

The cost of prescription drugs in the United States has grown dramatically, and continues to dramatically outpace inflation. According to the Centers for Disease Control, spending on retail prescription drugs in the United States more than tripled from $15 billion in 1982 to $48.2 billion in 1992, then more than tripled again to $162.4 billion in 2002. In 2005, spending on pharmaceuticals rose to $251.8 billion. Per person, prescription drugs spending increased from $64 in 1982 to $569 in 2002.

There are numerous proposals before the Legislature to deal with drug marketing and purchasing, including:

  • disclosure of drug company gifts to physicians (A.7468, Gottfried),

  • creating a state purchasing and discount program (A.3848, Gottfried),

  • limiting sale of prescribing information by pharmacies or others (A.7645A, Cahill) and

  • expanding the information disclosed about drug clinical trials (A.2274A, Jacobs).

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