The state’s new prescription drug law, which allows Canadian pharmacies to
do business in Rhode Island, is being met with a cold shoulder from many in
the business community and may face an eventual legal challenge from the U.S.
Food and Drug Administration.
Representatives from pharmaceutical giants Pfizer and Amgen have spoken harshly against the law, which was passed unanimously by both Houses of the General Assembly. Gov. Don Carcieri allowed the bill to pass into law on July 1, saying that while he still supported the bill, he did not want to add his signature to a law the federal government considers illegal.
The new state law allows Canadian pharmacies to send lower-priced drugs to Rhode Islanders through the mail. Although many residents already buy drugs from Canada over the phone or via the Internet, the state Department of Health has occasionally issued cease-and-desist orders to the Canadian companies, arguing that it couldn’t grant sales licenses to the companies due to federal law outlawing the importation of drugs. Unlike the United States, Canada’s federal government negotiates with pharmaceutical companies to set price controls and keep prices down for prescription medications.
Also having spoken out against the law are James Hagan, president of the Greater Providence Chamber of Commerce; Kip Bergstrom, executive director of the Rhode Island Economic Policy Council; and Donald Letendre, dean of the University of Rhode Island College of Pharmacy. Both Hagan and Bergstrom questioned the message the state is sending as it tries to woo more biomedical and biotechnology companies to the state while Letendre questioned the quality controls Canada has in place, which are not as stringent as those in place in the United States.
Based in New London, Conn., Dr. Joseph Hammang serves as director of science policy and public affairs for Pfizer Global Research and Development and said the company has been watching the importation debate across the country for sometime. He said Rhode Island is the only state where such importation has been granted a license. Pfizer employs 500 Rhode Islanders, who commute to Connecticut.
“This decision could lead one to believe the state is not as serious about the economic development it’s chosen to pursue,” said Hammang. “In the shadow of Boston, this is the kind of step that certainly doesn’t create an environment where innovation is supported,” he said. “As far as attracting biomedical and biotech companies, this law runs counter to the economic strategy that’s been pushed in Rhode Island.”
Pfizer spokesman Stephen Lederer said while the legality of the state law will ultimately lie in the hands of the FDA, Rhode Islanders should also look at the law as an attack on the business community.
“It should be unacceptable to its citizens that the state is breaking federal law,” Lederer said, later adding: “The idea that you could solve this problem by re-importing drugs from Canada is crazy. Canada can’t supply America with anywhere close to what this country demands. It’s a physical impossibility.”
But on the heels of a July 6 trip organized by R.I. Secretary of State Matt Brown, Rhode Islanders actually facing high prescription drug costs have little concern for the companies. A handful of seniors who made the trip to Montreal collectively saved 60 percent on their medications, a total of $1,400 in savings.
Cumberland’s Rita Brissette, 64, was among those making the trip and saved more than $700 on a 100-day supply of three of the seven medications she has been taking for the last five years. She’s been buying her medications through the Internet for several years, needing to bridge the cost gap between the drugs and her BlueChip insurance, which covers $600 – an amount she would spend in the United States for a two-month supply.
“We may be old, but we’re not stupid,” said Brissette, who said she’s happy to see local politicians finally taking a stand against the companies she believes have paid off Washington politicians for years in order to facilitate a “ridiculous” markup on medications. Brissette worked for more than 30 years as an administrator in a variety of nursing homes and visiting nurses groups and said she has long been aware of the problems facing seniors.
“It’s just at a point now where something needs to be done,” said Brissette, who doesn’t qualify for subsidized programs such as RIPAE. “There’s no reason these companies should be recouping expenses out of the pockets of seniors living day to day. Seniors are having to make choices that shouldn’t have to be made at the cost of a person’s health.”
Both Pfizer and Amgen have some programs in place for low-income seniors and neither company apologizes for seeking to make a return on the medications they’ve developed. Amgen, which employs nearly 1,300 Rhode Islanders in West Greenwich, has invested $1 billion in its new facility. Like Pfizer, Amgen worries about the message Rhode Island is sending.
“Importation proposals, which essentially are price controls, could send a chilling effect to the venture capital community, which many biotech companies rely on to fund innovation,” said Dave Bengston, vice president and general manager of Amgen’s Rhode Island facility, in a release this month. “For established biotech companies, importation schemes could result in stifling research and development of breakthrough therapies and treatments for serious diseases.”
“I think this legislation came about based partly on some confusion,” said Pfizer’s Lederer. “We’re hoping that everyone stops, takes a few breaths, looks around and reconsiders what is going on. Hopefully, the legislators will correct the mistake we believe they’ve made in these past few weeks.”
