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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.
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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