For Immediate Release - December 3, 2000
SCHUMER: NYC AND LI RESIDENTS COULD SAVE $2.6 BILLION ON
PRESCRIPTION DRUGS IF GENERIC ALTERNATIVES WERE AVAILABLE
Schumer-McCain Generic Drugs Bill Is The Type Of Bipartisan
Legislation Capable of Breaking Through Expected Deadlock in
107th Congress
Schumer Analysis Shows Hundreds Of Dollars In Annual Savings
onPopular Medications for Consumers if Generic Alternatives Were On The
Market Standing with seniors who pay hundreds of dollars more than they
should for brand name prescription drugs, US Senator Charles E. Schumer today
released data showing that New York City and Long Island residents would save
significantly on their prescription drug expenses if low cost generic
alternatives were available under bipartisan legislation co-authored by Schumer
and Senator John McCain (R-AZ). The Schumer-McCain bill could help save
New York City consumers over $1.9 billion and Long Island consumers over $700
million on their prescription drug costs over the next ten years if passed by
Congress.
Schumer surveyed local pharmacies to determine the costs of five
widely prescribed drugs and found that New York City and Long Island residents
would save hundreds of dollars every year if generic alternatives are available
when the original patents for the brand name drugs expire. The
pharmaceutical industry regularly seizes upon loopholes in the current law to
block generic drugs from entering the market.
"In 1984, Congress passed a far reaching pro-consumer law which
created a blueprint to allow less expensive generic drugs to enter the
market. In recent years, as the stakes and drug company profits have grown
larger, the lawyers have picked this law clean," said Schumer. "If this
pro-consumer law isn't dead, it's dying."
To restore the original purpose of the 1984 generic drug law, also
known as Hatch-Waxman, Schumer and McCain last month introduced the Greater
Access to Affordable Pharmaceuticals Act (GAAP) to allow generic drug
companies to enter the market promptly after brand name company patents
expire. The bill speeds the approval of generic drugs by the Food and Drug
Administration by eliminating legal hurdles and loopholes that have nothing to
do with the medication's effectiveness.
"The original law allowed brand name companies to have a set
amount of time of market exclusivity rights before a bio-equivalent generic drug
could compete on the market. But when the clock runs out, the drug company
tries to keep the generic from entering the marketplace over some frivolous
reason like the shape of the pill or the color of the bottle," said Schumer. "It
would be laughable were it not costing individual consumers hundreds of dollars
each year."
Under the Schumer-McCain legislation:
• The number of patents that a generic drug company must address for FDA approval would be limited to two categories - how the drug works and how it is taken. Other frivolous patent challenges on such items as the color and shape of pills and bottles would be barred.
• It blocks brand name companies from paying generic manufacturers to keep their product off the market. Recently, Abbott Laboratories admitted to paying Geneva Pharmaceuticals $4.5 million a month to keep its generic equivalent of the hypertension and prostate cancer drug Hytrin off the market.
•
It
expands the FDA's jurisdiction to allow for approval of generic versions of
inhalers and topical treatments like skin ointments. Currently, only
generic oral and intravenous medications can be readily approved by the FDA.
According to Schumer estimates, if generic drugs come to market as soon as
brand-name patents expire, US consumers could save $71 billion on prescription
drugs over the next 10 years. The Prime Institute estimates that by the
third year a generic alternative is on the market, consumers save, on average,
60% when they choose the generic over the name brand. In New York City,
those savings would mean $1.935 billion for local residents over the next ten
years. Long Island consumers would save $700 million.
In his survey of local drug costs, Schumer found that a New York
City resident using Prilosec, a widely-used ulcer medication, could save
more than $964 a year if a generic were available - $643 for the generic,
compared to $1,607 for the branded version. On Long Island, a resident
currently spending $1,575 annually on a prescription of Zocor, a popular
cholesterol medication, could save almost $945 by buying a generic version of
the drug for only $630 per year.
A person taking Norvasc, a commonly prescribed drug for heart
disease, normally pays about $50 for a month's supply at Duane Reade in
Manhattan. If a generic alternative were available, that person would only
pay approximately $20 a month, saving $360 annually. Similarly, a person
filling a prescription of Claritin pays $83 a month at Huguenot Pharmacy on
Staten Island, but would have to pay only about $33.20 for a generic version,
saving more than $597 annually. Finally, a person taking Prozac for depression
who currently pays $94.69 a month at Rite Aid in Brooklyn would only pay $37.88
for a generic alternative, saving $681 annually.
On Long Island, Schumer found that a person who currently spends
$149.15 a month for a month's supply of Zocor at North Point Pharmacy in Commack
would pay only $59.66 for a generic alternative, saving over $1,073 annually. A
person who purchases Prilosec, a common ulcer medication, at Kings Pharmacy in
Long Beach would save nearly $965 annually, spending only $53.59 a month on the
generic instead of $133.98 on the name brand.
Schumer said that an added benefit to his bill is that it will not
get caught in the partisan battles that have doomed other efforts to make
prescription drugs more affordable.
"Over the years, every attempt to make prescription drugs more
affordable for working families has broken down over partisan or ideological
lines," said Schumer. "We are saving billions of dollars, not by redrawing
ideological battle lines, but by restoring the intent of our patent laws."
The Schumer-McCain bill has been endorsed by the Health Insurance
Association of America (HIAA), the Consumer Federation of America (CFA), Blue
Cross/Blue Shield, the Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy, the Consumers Union,
the National Consumer League and the Alliance of Community Health Plans.
"It isn't often that these groups come together to endorse a
bill. I think it means that John McCain and I are on to something pretty
special," said Schumer.
Boris Mantel, President of the New York City Pharmacists Society,
and area seniors who would stand to save hundreds of dollars per year on
prescription drugs if generic alternatives were available joined Schumer at a
press conference to release the results of his analysis.
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