In June, Vermont enacted the nation’s first so-called pharmaceutical cost transparency bill, which will require drug companies to justify certain big price increases. In 2005, drug companies beat back a measure that would have essentially required discounts on medicines for some Californians. The state Legislative Analyst’s Office said the impact of the proposal was “highly uncertain,” in part because of the opacity of drug prices. Sniping over the California measure intensified after Senator Sanders met with 19 AIDS activists in San Bernardino in late May and then issued a news release praising the initiative. Pharmaceutical companies, worried about a precedent being set, have contributed $68.5 million to the opposition campaign, which calls itself Californians Against the Misleading Rx Measure.

Source: New York Times July 04, 2016 21:20 UTC