PRINTER'S NO. 2197
No. 215 Session of 2000
INTRODUCED BY MOWERY, MURPHY, SALVATORE, HELFRICK, PICCOLA,
JUBELIRER, PUNT, WHITE, LOEPER, WAUGH, RHOADES, TOMLINSON,
HART, DENT, ROBBINS, MADIGAN, EARLL, HOLL AND LEMMOND,
OCTOBER 3, 2000
REFERRED TO INTERGOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS, OCTOBER 3, 2000
A RESOLUTION
1 Urging the Congress of the United States and the Food and Drug
2 Administration (FDA) to take quick action to investigate and
3 resolve the skyrocketing cost of prescription drugs and to
4 end certain deleterious advertising practices harmful and
5 costly to the Pennsylvania consumer.
6 WHEREAS, Several committees of the Senate of the Commonwealth
7 of Pennsylvania have conducted hearings throughout this
8 Commonwealth attempting to ascertain the causal factors behind
9 the rising costs of prescription drugs as well as the enormous
10 impact on both private and government purchasers; and
11 WHEREAS, In recent years the cost of prescription medication
12 has climbed at an astonishing rate, due in part to increased
13 utilization spurred by advertising and promotional activities
14 comparable to Hollywood's finest productions; and
15 WHEREAS, The FDA, under the purview and guidance of the
16 Clinton Administration, eliminated necessary restrictions on
17 drug advertising, thereby ending decades of consumer protection;
18 and
1 WHEREAS, The FDA, with the consent of the Clinton
2 Administration, allowed these dangerous and wasteful practices
3 to commence, making the United States the only country in the
4 world that allows direct-to-consumer advertising of prescription
5 drugs; and
6 WHEREAS, Citizens for Consumer Justice, a Statewide consumer
7 group, indicates that these promotions and advertisements, not
8 research and development, are the pharmaceutical industry's
9 fastest growing expenditure; and
10 WHEREAS, Such increased advertising has been shown to be
11 effective in increasing market share since ten of the most
12 heavily advertised drugs account for almost 25% of total drug
13 expenditures; and
14 WHEREAS, The top 25 direct-to-consumer advertised drugs
15 posted sales growth totaling 43.2% in 1999 alone, and such
16 growth clearly exceeds the 13% growth posted by other
17 nonmarketed drugs; and
18 WHEREAS, Increased advertising can create a demand for the
19 product rather than an actual medical need; and
20 WHEREAS, Grave problems can arise when increased use is
21 merely the result of increased marketing with no corresponding
22 improvement in health; and
23 WHEREAS, It appears that increased marketing may prove to be
24 a more profitable investment for manufacturers than further
25 research and development; and
26 WHEREAS, In 1999 pharmaceutical companies spent 33 times as
27 much in direct-to-consumer advertising as they did in 1993,
28 causing expenditures to rise from $55 million to more than $2
29 billion; and
30 WHEREAS, Prescription drugs are now the fastest growing
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1 segment of health care spending, rising 18% from $79 billion in
2 1997 to $93.4 billion in 1998; and
3 WHEREAS, In 1999 spending rose 19% from the previous year,
4 and comparable increases are expected to occur in future years;
5 and
6 WHEREAS, An industry representative testified that the
7 introduction of a generic product immediately lowers a drug's
8 price by 30% to 80%; and
9 WHEREAS, The Federal Trade Commission has alleged that some
10 pharmaceutical companies have paid generic drug manufacturers to
11 forego or delay manufacturing of certain medications; and
12 WHEREAS, Consumers in the United States pay more for the same
13 medication than consumers in other countries as a result of
14 these practices; and
15 WHEREAS, The runaway cost of prescription medications affects
16 all Americans, not just Pennsylvanians or the elderly; and
17 WHEREAS, Constant bombardment of drug advertisements has the
18 potential to have a serious negative effect on children by
19 giving them the distorted message that the consumption of drugs
20 is a desirable behavior which resolves all of life's
21 difficulties, which message is counterproductive at best and
22 counteracts government and community-based efforts to prevent
23 tobacco, alcohol and drug abuse by children; therefore be it
24 RESOLVED, That the Senate of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
25 implore the Congress of the United States to review the actions
26 of the FDA, whose marketing guidelines appear to promote and
27 advance the best interests of the drug companies and their
28 advertising outlets rather than the American consumer; and be it
29 further
30 RESOLVED, That the Congress and the FDA move to prohibit
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1 direct consumer marketing or in the alternative to impose
2 tighter restrictions; and be it further
3 RESOLVED, That copies of this resolution be sent to the
4 President of the United States, the presiding officers of each
5 house of Congress, each member of Congress from Pennsylvania and
6 the Commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration.
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