Coalition to educate consumers, address generic Rx legislation

Drug Store News, July 20, 1998 by Melissa C. Popolillo

While it was formed for a variety of reasons, the coalition has come to be primarily a means to address Capitol Hill and consumers at large as a single, multi-talented force.

"Our mission is to promote legislation that will improve consumer access to affordable generic pharmaceutical products and oppose legislation that would restrict consumer access to those drugs," said NPA president Christine Sizemore. "[Our goal is] to provide consumers, policy makers and the media with accurate and timely information about the issues that affect consumer access to affordable pharmaceuticals."

"What we're doing is forming an affiance because we have common goals and interests, even though we have our own agendas as organizations," said Alice Till, Ph.D., president of GPIA. "We've all been giving the same message, but this coalition gives us the chance to come with one stronger voice. It's most effective to coordinate our efforts, rather than duplicate them."

The strength of the coalition comes from the strengths of each organization. "[The coalition] is about pooling resources and about bringing our intelligence together as a group," Till noted. "It's a very basic concept: 'You have this to throw into the pot, we have this to throw in.' When you bring minds together like this, you have a synergistic effect and a sharing of duties."

The banding together of the three organizations has been in the works for some time. The organizations are no strangers to working together in a legislative forum, something they've done on select issues for about a year.

High on the coalition's list of tasks is educating legislators on the Hill, on the most basic level, about generic drugs. CAP members agree that the task will be a daunting one, being as "the lawmakers are not fully apprised of what generic drugs are," said NAPM president Bob Milanese.

Educating legislators is not the only challenging task ahead of the coalition, "The generic industry is going up against one of the most powerful lobbying groups in Washington-the branded drug industry," said H.W. "Buddy' Menn III, vice president of legislative affairs for GPIA. "This makes it a lot like a David and Goliath situation. As David, we need to pool our resources, coordinate our efforts and work together toward our common purpose.

"There is a very well-defined and well-organized camp on the part of the branded companies to thwart generic competition," Menn said. "This is not only taking place on the federal level, but it is occurring on the state level, as well. It is very critical for the generic industry to coordinate, strategize and develop a counter campaign."

One of the greatest concerns of generic manufacturers is the challenges put to them by branded companies. "The generic industry is under duress for a variety of reasons," Milanese said. "The big innovator companies have strategies for preventing the entry of new generic drugs for as long as possible. They have employed a variety of tactics to do that, such as attempting to extend patent rights. [The generic pharmaceutical] industry is really outgunned by an astronomical number in terms of the resources we can apply to our issues vs. what the innovator companies can."

Although the coalition does not have a concrete list of legislative issues it plans to address, it has a number of concerns that are ongoing. Among the concerns are interpretations of reforms placed on the Food and Drug Administration, the pediatric labeling provision, the potential reopening of Waxman-Hatch and other issues that arise that will require the coalition to determine and stake out a position.

In addition to taking a united stance on Capitol Hill, the coalition has an educational agenda, as well. In the future, the coalition will roll out an educational campaign that will address generic drugs' efficacy, bioequivalency and low cost. The coalition plans to target this information to physicians, pharmacists, managed care groups and pharmacy benefit management companies.

The coalition also will work on an educational level with patient groups and consumer groups, such as organizations geared toward the elderly, whose constituents may benefit from generic pharmaceuticals.

"The focus of this coalition is to provide a cohesive effort by [the generic] industry in disseminating accurate information about issues that affect consumer access to affordable, high-quality generic pharmaceuticals," Milanese noted.

"The generic industry is not a glitzy industry," Milanese said. "It's a marketing situation on one end. Educating the consumer from our perspective is a difficult task because what we have to sell is equivalency. The question is, how does this industry, which exists for one reason only-to offer a low-cost alternative to branded medications-convince the public that the products are the same and are approved by a federal agency?"

One facet of CAP's educational efforts already is up and running-a web site at www.genericaccess.com. The site was designed to act as a forum for visitors to learn about generics, see where their elected officials stand on generic industry-related issues and voice their opinions on the subject.