Industry Hails Its Medicine Subsidies for Poor
The pharmaceutical industry said Tuesday that a clearinghouse set up by drug companies had helped about a quarter of a million lower-income people obtain free or deeply discounted prescriptions in its first 100 days.
The giveaway program and the upcoming unveiling of self-imposed limits on pharmaceutical advertising are part of an industry effort to repair its image and head off legislation that would allow consumers to import low-cost prescription drugs from certain industrialized countries.
Drug companies “are getting it,” W.J. “Billy” Tauzin, a former congressman who heads the main drug industry lobbying group, told a news conference. He also issued a progress report on the Partnership for Prescription Assistance, which helps people obtain free or low-cost medicines.
“You can’t make products that extend human life ... without making sure those products are available to people who otherwise would not have access to them,” said Tauzin, president of Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America.
But supporters of the import bill said the industry’s philanthropy would not slow the legislation, which recently cleared the Senate Commerce Committee, 14 to 8, and awaits action by the full Senate.
“The pharmaceutical industry does a lot of good things for people, but the fact remains they overcharge American consumers for prescriptions to the tune of billions of dollars a year,” said Barry Piatt, a spokesman for Sen. Byron L. Dorgan (D-N.D.), co-author of the legislation.
With nearly half of all Americans taking at least one prescription medication, the cost of drugs has become a significant budget issue for families, employers and government programs. In Congress, a coalition of Democrats and populist Republicans hopes to overcome Bush administration objections and pass the import legislation this fall.
The prescription aid program is the industry’s first attempt to coordinate access to more than 180 assistance efforts administered by drug companies. In the past, doctors typically had to apply for free medicine for their patients, but most physicians were not aware of all the programs.
The new industry effort simplifies the process, setting up a call center (1-888-477-2669) and a website (www.pparx.org) through which patients can find the program that covers their prescriptions and apply directly for benefits.
Patients with no prescription drug coverage and an income less than twice the federal poverty level are eligible for help. The income limit is $19,000 for an individual; for a family of three, it is $31,000.
About 600,000 people have contacted the clearinghouse since it was established in April. Of those, about 300,000 have completed the paperwork, and more than 240,000 are receiving medications, said H. Wesley Metheny, a vice president of Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America.
Tauzin said drug companies provided more than $4 billion in free medications a year to 6 million patients who could not afford them, but that figure represented only about half of those who could be helped. The clearinghouse should help reach more people, he added.
Dr. Mary E. Frank, president of the American Academy of Family Physicians, said the program had also helped doctors.
“It really is a big step forward, compared to what was available before,” said Frank, who practices in Rohnert Park, about 50 miles north of San Francisco. “What it’s done is make it a lot easier for patients to access medications.”
