BY SENATOR LELAND YEE
Last week in Sacramento, the Assembly Business and Professions Committee approved two public health bills that I authored, Senate Bills 1106 and 1029.
On a 6-4 vote, the committee approved SB 1106 to require sample prescription drugs received at a doctor’s offices to be accompanied with written information regarding the drugs similar to what is normally received at a pharmacy.
It is vital that consumers receive written information regarding dosage and potential side effects on sample drugs. This bill will reduce lawsuits, illnesses, and deaths. Because these sample drugs are often dispensed to low-income families who may not have insurance to cover the costs of prescriptions at pharmacies, the poor are disproportionately affected by this inequity in law. All families, especially children, deserve and need this vital information, whether they are getting medicines from a pharmacy or their doctor’s office.
A study conducted by the Journal of Family Practice found that instructions accompanied the dispensing of sample drugs only 47.8 percent of the time and were predominantly verbal in nature.
The study states, “Dosing appeared to be the main focus, and little to no attention was given to more detailed information, such as whether the medication should be taken with meals. Drug interactions were not routinely discussed.”
Manufacturers regard samples as a promotional tool. Pfizer alone dispensed 101 million samples worth $2.7 billion in 2007, according to the company. Merck dispensed 39 million samples worth about $356 million; Eli Lilly, 33 million worth $67 million; Wyeth, 52 million worth $64 million; Baxter International, 33,000 worth $7 million and Abbott Laboratories 16 million worth $32 million.
In 2006, the National Academies’ Institute of Medicine reported that medication errors injure 1.5 million people annually. The report addressed labeling of prescription drugs and found that there has been a growing unease among health care providers and others about the way free samples are distributed, the lack of documentation of medication use, as well as the bypassing of drug interaction checks and counseling that are integral parts of the standard prescription process when received through a pharmacy.
On a 6-2 vote, the committee also approved SB 1029 to allow pharmacies throughout California to sell up to 30 sterile syringes to an adult without a prescription. SB 1029 is supported by doctors, pharmacists, and AIDS prevention advocates.
California is one of only three states that still prohibits pharmacists from selling a syringe without a prescription. Most states amended their laws in light of overwhelming evidence that criminalizing access to sterile syringes led drug users to share used ones, and that sharing syringes spread HIV, hepatitis B, hepatitis C and other blood-borne diseases that can live in a used syringe.
This is an effective public health measure which is proven to reduce health care costs to taxpayers. It is a moral and fiscal imperative that this bill becomes law. Access to sterile syringes is a vital component of a comprehensive strategy to combat HIV and hepatitis. This approach has been evaluated extensively throughout the world and has been found to significantly reduce rates of HIV and hepatitis without contributing to any increase in drug use, drug injection, crime or unsafe discard of syringes.
In 2004, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed legislation to create a five-year pilot program to evaluate the safety and efficacy of allowing adults to purchase and possess a limited number of syringes for personal use. Under the pilot program pharmacies in Los Angeles County, the Bay Area and some other parts of the state have been allowed to sell syringes. This bill would extend the sunset and allow all pharmacists throughout the state with the discretion to sell sterile syringes without a prescription. SB 1106 and SB 1029 are key bills that will better the healthcare system for many Californians. Both bills will next be considered by the Assembly Appropriations Committee.
Last week in Sacramento, the Assembly Business and Professions Committee approved two public health bills that I authored, Senate Bills 1106 and 1029.
On a 6-4 vote, the committee approved SB 1106 to require sample prescription drugs received at a doctor’s offices to be accompanied with written information regarding the drugs similar to what is normally received at a pharmacy.
It is vital that consumers receive written information regarding dosage and potential side effects on sample drugs. This bill will reduce lawsuits, illnesses, and deaths. Because these sample drugs are often dispensed to low-income families who may not have insurance to cover the costs of prescriptions at pharmacies, the poor are disproportionately affected by this inequity in law. All families, especially children, deserve and need this vital information, whether they are getting medicines from a pharmacy or their doctor’s office.
A study conducted by the Journal of Family Practice found that instructions accompanied the dispensing of sample drugs only 47.8 percent of the time and were predominantly verbal in nature.
The study states, “Dosing appeared to be the main focus, and little to no attention was given to more detailed information, such as whether the medication should be taken with meals. Drug interactions were not routinely discussed.”
Manufacturers regard samples as a promotional tool. Pfizer alone dispensed 101 million samples worth $2.7 billion in 2007, according to the company. Merck dispensed 39 million samples worth about $356 million; Eli Lilly, 33 million worth $67 million; Wyeth, 52 million worth $64 million; Baxter International, 33,000 worth $7 million and Abbott Laboratories 16 million worth $32 million.
In 2006, the National Academies’ Institute of Medicine reported that medication errors injure 1.5 million people annually. The report addressed labeling of prescription drugs and found that there has been a growing unease among health care providers and others about the way free samples are distributed, the lack of documentation of medication use, as well as the bypassing of drug interaction checks and counseling that are integral parts of the standard prescription process when received through a pharmacy.
On a 6-2 vote, the committee also approved SB 1029 to allow pharmacies throughout California to sell up to 30 sterile syringes to an adult without a prescription. SB 1029 is supported by doctors, pharmacists, and AIDS prevention advocates.
California is one of only three states that still prohibits pharmacists from selling a syringe without a prescription. Most states amended their laws in light of overwhelming evidence that criminalizing access to sterile syringes led drug users to share used ones, and that sharing syringes spread HIV, hepatitis B, hepatitis C and other blood-borne diseases that can live in a used syringe.
This is an effective public health measure which is proven to reduce health care costs to taxpayers. It is a moral and fiscal imperative that this bill becomes law. Access to sterile syringes is a vital component of a comprehensive strategy to combat HIV and hepatitis. This approach has been evaluated extensively throughout the world and has been found to significantly reduce rates of HIV and hepatitis without contributing to any increase in drug use, drug injection, crime or unsafe discard of syringes.
In 2004, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed legislation to create a five-year pilot program to evaluate the safety and efficacy of allowing adults to purchase and possess a limited number of syringes for personal use. Under the pilot program pharmacies in Los Angeles County, the Bay Area and some other parts of the state have been allowed to sell syringes. This bill would extend the sunset and allow all pharmacists throughout the state with the discretion to sell sterile syringes without a prescription. SB 1106 and SB 1029 are key bills that will better the healthcare system for many Californians. Both bills will next be considered by the Assembly Appropriations Committee.
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