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Pharma not the only target, officials say

Pharma Compliance Alert, September 19, 2007

Editor's note: this is the first in a two-part series reporting on the panel discussion at last week's CBINET Tracking State Laws and Aggregate Spend conference.

It's easier to target pharmaceutical companies when states try to control healthcare costs, but a panel at CBINET's Tracking State Laws and Aggregate Spend conference last week said pharma companies aren't the only target.

"States are trying to get a handle on healthcare costs," Vermont state senator Ann Cummings said. "We're bringing pressure in all areas."

Cummings said pharmaceutical pricing is the hardest area for legislators to understand.

"There is nothing logical to the lay person to explain why the price does what it does," Cummings said, citing the wide swing in pricing. "The suspicion falls on profit."

Gordon Smith, executive vice president of the Maine Medical Society, said the pharma industry faces "a hornet's nest of unfavorable perception."

All of Maine's hospitals are non-profit, which also causes more focus on pharma companies.

"We're going right at the workforce when we go after doctors and hospitals," Smith explained. "It's easier though unfair to target pharmaceutical companies."

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