Pharma skirmish looms in US Presidential race
contention for the two US Presidential candidates as they square
off ahead of the election in November.
President George Bush and the official Democrat candidate John Kerry each have a singular voice when it comes to the pharmaceutical industry, according to DB Marketing Technologies (DBMT), a management consulting company based in New York.
The firm has compiled a profile of the two candidates, detailing where President Bush and Senator Kerry would like to take the country on issues related to pharmaceuticals.
In performing this research, DBMT found that Sen Kerry promotes a populist pharma policy, calling for drug re-importation, Medicare negotiated drug discounts, speedier access to generics (i.e. reduction in patent protection), and pharmaceutical benefits manager (PBM) earnings transparency relating to revenue from pharmaceutical companies.
Pres Bush, conversely, opposes drug re-importation, Medicare negotiated drug discounts, reduction in patent protection periods, and any additional PBM disclosure.
Furthermore, under Pres Bush, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has proposed to lift much of the arduous disclaimer copy requirements in direct-to-consumer advertising of prescription drugs. Kerry, however, has been conspicuously silent on this topic, in stark contrast to former Democratic presidential candidates Sen John Edwards and Governor Howard Dean, who both proposed additional restrictions that would effectively ban DTC advertising.
Ironically, the FDA under Bill Clinton lessened restrictions on DTC advertising, and Sen Kerry's silence on this matter "may be his tacit consent to Clinton's policy change, as pharma marketing dollars flowed through corporate America like manna from heaven when the recession choked off most other industry reservoirs, arguably saving many a job in the process," notes DBMT.
Alternatively, Kerry's silence may reflect his unwillingness to go left at a time when he needs to take a more centrist position to woo independent voters, it suggests.
Overall, Kerry's official healthcare speak tends to disparage pharmaceuticals, according to DBMT. It cites his official website, which states: "John Kerry believes that seniors should not pay the highest prices just so that pharmaceutical companies can have higher profits" and "[pharmaceutical companies pay PBMs] even more extra dollars for assembling data to help drug companies exploit consumers."
DBMT takes issue with Kerry's stance on DTC, noting that the Health Information Portability and Accountability Act (H IPAA) precludes pharmaceutical companies from ever viewing individually identifiable patient prescription data.
"Kerry's stance on the latter point could be interpreted as pure demagoguery," it claims.
Meanwhile Bush's weakness is held up as stemming from the Medicare stipulation disallowing negotiated prescription drug discounts. "Such a practice runs counter to every General Services Administration (GSA) contract awarded today, as the GSA requires its vendors to give government the deepest discounts offered to any other customer," says DBMT.
For copies of the position profiling document, visit DBMT's website or contact Joanna Smith Bers.
