Signatures
to be filed for California drug price referendum
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[October 29, 2015]
By Sharon Bernstein
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (Reuters) - Backers of a
referendum aimed at reducing the cost of prescription drugs in
California said Wednesday that they had gathered more than enough
signatures to place their measure on the November, 2016, ballot in the
most populous U.S. state.
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The measure by the AIDS Healthcare Foundation would require the
state to pay no more for prescription medications than does the
federal Veterans Administration, which negotiates aggressively with
drug companies.
"If prices are lower, the burden on taxpayers is going to be lower,"
said Michael Weinstein, the organization's longtime president. "It's
also going to trickle down to the copays and costs of what people
pay for pharmaceuticals."
The Los Angeles based organization, which provides services to AIDS
and HIV patients and is involved in public health advocacy, has
collected nearly 550,000 signatures from California voters to place
the measure on the ballot, more than the 366,000 valid signatures
needed, Weinstein said in an exclusive interview with Reuters.
The group plans to file the signatures with the state on Nov. 2.
The measure is expected to generate fierce opposition from the
pharmaceutical industry, which already has a war chest of about $10
million in a campaign account set up to fight it.
According to the state's campaign finance website, donations include
$5.7 million from Johnson & Johnson, and $2.8 million from
Bristol-Myers Squibb Co.
"While this ballot measure may look simple, the changes being
proposed will have adverse consequences for Californians," said
Kathy Fairbanks, spokeswoman for the campaign against the measure.
"If it goes forward we will be preparing a campaign to educate
voters in California about its negative consequences."
Weinstein said the organization had tried for years to persuade the
California legislature to adopt laws that would control spiraling
pharmaceutical costs in the state, to no avail.
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He predicted that anger over high prices for prescription drugs
would lead to strong support for the measure. Prices paid by the
state would be tied to those negotiated by the Veterans
Administration, because the federal agency has negotiated rates for
the drugs that it buys that are 20 percent to 25 percent lower than
most other customers pay.
The organization is also seeking to qualify a similar measure for
the ballot in Ohio. Three years ago, it successfully backed a ballot
measure requiring adult film actors in Los Angeles to use condoms.
The organization is currently backing a statewide version of that
measure.
(Reporting by Sharon Bernstein; Editing by Richard Pullin)
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