Statement by Alan F. Holmer, President of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), on the Senate’s failure to pass drug coverage for seniors and the disabled

July 31, 2002

The Senate’s vote in favor of tinkering with the patent law is an example of election-year politics trouncing good public policy.  Seniors and the disabled ultimately are the losers because they’re not getting what they truly need – prescription drug insurance coverage in Medicare. 

Seniors understand that legislation to overhaul patent laws won’t give them the savings or the access to the new medicines that they want and deserve.  The tripartisan drug proposal, for example, would cut drug bills in half for seniors and the disabled, but the one-sided generic drug bill would potentially lower drug bills for patients by only about one half of one percent at best.  As the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has said, this “clearly is not the answer.  In fact, this bill would likely do the opposite of what its title suggests – by limiting access to cutting-edge drugs, decreasing innovation, and ultimately harming the quality of treatments available to patients.”  The generic legislation also goes far beyond new recommendations of the Federal Trade Commission for making changes to the patent system. 

We hope that the Senators who supported this flawed bill will reconsider this strategy in September and will come back to do what they promised their constituents in the last election: pass meaningful Medicare drug coverage for seniors.