Generically Challenged

Campus Report ^ | July 2, 2009 | Alana Goodman

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Generically Challenged

by: Alana Goodman, July 02, 2009

The Hatch-Waxman Act of 1984 was passed to help bring generic drug competition into the pharmaceutical market, but panelists at a June 23rd Center for American Progress (CAP) discussion argued that the U.S. government should be doing more to regulate pharmaceutical companies. They claim their proposals could save Americans over $35 billion over the next ten years.

The Hatch-Waxman Act encourages generic pharmaceutical companies to challenge brand-name drug patents in court. Once the generic companies win the patents, they are able to sell the medication at reduced rates. Opponents of this act argue that it discourages the innovation of new drugs by preventing brand-name pharmaceutical companies from profiting significantly off of the medication they spent time and money creating. However, there is no doubt that the consumer benefits from the lower prices of generic drugs.

“It is important that we now consider the potential public savings made possible from ensuring access to affordable medicine through increased generic competition,” said Winnie Stachelberg, the Senior Vice President for External Affairs at the Center for American Progress. According to Stachelberg, the savings amount to “over $120 billion a year.”

“Unleashing the potential for growth for generic drugs, while retaining the necessary incentives for innovation, can bring even greater savings,” claimed Stachelberg.

Because pharmaceutical companies have begun to buy off their generic competitors, as in the 2008 case where Cephalon paid off the generic competition for its brand-name drug “Provigil,” the panelists proposed a full or partial ban on these types of settlements.

“One simple step could save consumers and the government billions of dollars annually, and that’s stopping pharmaceutical companies from colluding with competitors to keep low-cost generics off the market...

[HighlyOpinionated]

Anything with Waxman’s name on it, cannot be good for the Country.