AMERICAN RX BILL OF RIGHTS SITE LAUNCHED; URGES PUBLIC TO ASK SENATORS, REPS WHERE THEY STAND ON RX PRICES, POLICIES

Election 2016 offers once-in-lifetime opportunity to elect Congress to support comprehensive legislation to lower prices

ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, USA, May 13, 2016 /EINPresswire.com/ -- The newly launched American Rx Bill of Rights(http://americanrxbillofrights.blogspot.com) is urging Americans to ask their Senators and Representatives to take a position on the need for comprehensive, bi-partisan legislation that will guarantee access for Americans to safe, affordable prescription medicines.

Daniel Hines, publisher of the TodaysSeniorsNetwork group of blogs, and Rx for American Health, says the new site is directly aimed at “making a difference” in the 2016 Elections.

“The ‘Articles’ of the Rx Bill of Rights include proposals that can make an immediate impact upon the health and well-being of millions of Americans by ensuring that they are able to afford their vital medicines,” he explains.

“The elections of 2016 offer what may a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to ensure that millions of Americans are no longer denied the health benefits made possible by access to vital medicines simply because of the predatory pricing practices of Pharma,” he continues. “ Simply put, a medicine that is unaffordable is, in and of itself unavailable, thereby putting the health and well-being of Americans at risk, contributing to rising health costs caused by complications that could have likely been avoided by access to safe, affordable medicines.”

The Articles of the American Rx Bill of Rights are: Article One—A Basic Right to Good Health; Article Two--An Unaffordable Medicine is Unavailable; Article Three--Citizens as Stakeholders in Rx Policy Development; Article Four—Due Process to Protect Unfair Confiscation of Authentic Medicines
Article Five—The Public Interest of an Rx Bill of Rights; Article Six—Reciprocity Agreements to Facilitate Personal Importation of and Access to Safe, Valid Medications

An explanation of the Articles follows:
Article One (A Basic Right to Good Health): The impact of millions of Americans being denied the health benefits of access to a regimen of safe, affordable medicines because of cost is a national health issue that has yet-to-be-recognized consequences. That is why the ability of American Citizens to make health care decisions in concert with their physicians such as the purchase of personally imported safe, affordable prescription medicines should not be hampered by any actions by government or private entities as a policy to restrict Americans' access to authentic medicines.

Article Two (An Unaffordable Medicine is Unavailable): A prescription medicine that is unaffordable is unavailable, thereby meeting the 'rules' of the FDA that such a medicine that is otherwise unavailable is indeed eligible to be personally imported by an American patient, Arbitrary denial by the FDA to such access is detrimental to the health of the patient by denying him or her access to vital maintenance medicines. This is a violation of the purpose of the FDA which is ostensibly designed to protect the health and well-being of American citizens.

Article Three (Citizens as Stakeholders): The relationship between the FDA, elected officials, and Pharma has led to numerous abuses, access by Pharma to legislators and other elected officials based on the contribution of millions of dollars, favored status for Pharma representatives and their front groups as the primary representative at public hearings to determine the health care policy for Federal, State and Local Governments, thereby skewering the decision-making process. That why it is incumbent upon Congress that it acts to ensure that ordinary American citizens whose health and finances are adversely affected by Pharma pricing practices, advocacy groups other than those of Pharma, are given a 'stakeholder' status equal to that of Pharma.

Article Four (Due Process): Americans who purchase safe, affordable brand-name medicines from licensed, registered pharmacies in Tier One Countries whose standards meet or exceed those of the U.S., are the legitimate owners of their authentic medicines and are entitled to exercise their due process rights to have their personal property free from undue and unjustified seizure oar destruction by any governmental agency unless the seizing authority can demonstrate via established judicial processes and to courts that such seizures are of bogus, counterfeit or unsafe prescription medicines.

Article Five (Public Interest): Americans are significant contributors to the development of research and development costs of new medicines through their tax dollars in support of grants to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and, as such, should be protected from unfair or questionable patent protection granted to Pharma that fails to recognize the rights of American citizens. Abuses in pricing, illegal business activities, or undue influence upon policy-making by the FDA or elected officials should result in a reduction of the patent protection afforded Pharma to the detriment of untold numbers of Americans who must be able to pay what Pharma believes the traffic will bear.

Article Six (Reciprocity): The FDA should extend reciprocity to other Tier One countries in the interests of the health of American citizens. The majority of brand name prescription medicines sold to Americans is manufactured at plants outside the U.S., under FDA supervision, or at plants licensed by Pharma members to produce medicines under a license granted by a particular company, a validation that medicines produced outside the U.S. and sold in this country are indeed capable of being safe. Also, the FDA has entered into agreements with regulatory agencies in many countries to assume the task of overseeing ingredients manufacture of ingredients for brand name medicines. Added to that is that many countries (excluding the U.S and the FDA) have reciprocal agreements (Memorandums of Understanding) that one country will accept the medications produced in another country as safe and authentic.

RxforAmericanHealth publisher says personal importation of brand-name medicines from Tier One countries. including Canada, a key element of comprehensive approach to lowering prescription medicine costs in the U.S

The publisher of RxforAmericanHealth says that a recent article in the Harvard Business Review that claims that ‘cheap drugs’ from Canada will not reduce prescription drugprices fails to acknowledge the harm to Americans’  health and well-being, as well as that of society overall,  by Pharma charging what “the traffic will bear” based solely upon its profit motives for prescription medicines.

Daniel Hines  notes in his blog at http://rxforamericanhealth.blogspot.com/2016/02/harvard-review-author-ignores-very.html  that the conclusion that ‘cheap drugs’ from Canada won’t lower prices simply because no one believes that Pharma will “lean back” and “allow” personal importation simply because they are “selling drugs at a terrific discount to Canada and other countries” does not address the harm done by the long-running opposition by Pharma to personal importation of brand-name medicines, and gives it a ‘license’ to continue its pricing abuses in the name of profit.

“Pharma has no inherent authority to either ‘allow’’ or ‘disallow’ Americans from personally importing their medicines,’ Hines notes, explaining that this is clearly the prerogative of the U.S. Congress. 

“That is why over the past 15 years, Congress has passed or considered many bills in support of personal importation of medicines, only to see behind-closed-door deals with PhRMA, the trade group of the Pharmaceutical industry leading to the passage of the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare); ‘poison-pill amendments from legislators,  who are recipients of Pharma’s  contributions,  to require ‘certification’ by the Secretary of  Health and Human Services of each and every medicine personally imported; Pharma-led efforts directed at personal importation claiming to protect product safety or intellectual property rights that were turned aside because of public outcry that the legislation would have trampled on individual liberties.”

Hines says the extent of the healthcare crisis that has been generated by the excessive costs of prescription medicines making them a major driver of rising health care costs, calls for a comprehensive, coordinated approach to lower drug prices. 

“There is a distinct role for personal importation of medicines as part of strategies that will help end the crisis caused by the pricing practices of Pharma that have denied millions of Americans access to their prescribed medicines simply because they are unaffordable.”

He also noted that there must be a recognition of the potential of the harmful effects upon society when ‘profitability’ far exceeds the basic requirements that will earn a business the funds that are necessary to guarantee its ability to maintain its operations, and to enter into new products and markets, rather than allow Pharma to continue charging what the traffic will bear.

He calls for a number of actions:

• ·         A recognition that a medicine that is unaffordable is, in and of itself, unavailable;
• ·         Brand name medicines imported from Canada—and other Tier One Countries-- are not ‘cheap drugs’. They are instead valid medicines that can provide a vital lifeline of maintenance medicines that would otherwise be denied to millions of Americans;
• ·          No one, not even the most fervent supporters of personal importation of safe, affordable prescription medicines from licensed, registered pharmacies in Tier One Countries (not just Canada) has ever suggested that personally imported medicines are the sole answer to lower medicine prices in the U.S.;
• ·         The role of personal importation prescription medicines is not an inherent authority of Pharma not the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), but is within the province of the U.S. Congress to establish the direction of prescription medicine policy, including but not limited to personal importation;
• ·         Congressional support of personal importation, is evidenced by continuing Congressional initiatives on a number of fronts including appeals to the HHS Secretary to grant waivers, as well as bi-partisan bills on behalf of personal importation;
• ·         Tell Pharma that when it threatens to curtail its Research and Development, that much of the cost of that R&D is borne by the U.S. Taxpayer, whom, after supporting such R&D, is subject to the highest prices in the industrialized world for their medicines;
• ·         Take action on the political front. Americans have traditionally expressed their dissatisfaction with the status quo at the ballot box, leading to historic changes in national policies (i.e., social security, anti-trust legislation, Medicare);

Hines noted that the 2016 Election is of watershed proportions.  He calls for voters to make sure that they now where candidates stand on the cost of prescription medicine, the right and the ability of Americans to determine the safety and efficacy of personally imported medicines and the right to have access to those vital medicines. 

To that end, he offers the ‘planks’ of a platform that he believes will lower prescription prices;

1.       Price negotiation for Medicare and other programs;

2.       A ‘stakeholder’ role for the American public that supports so much of Pharma R&D, by an increased presence of consumer advocates and private citizen in policy development, hearings, and opportunities for public comment;

3.       A revised patent policy that ensures the public investment in R&D is protected in legislation that will penalize Pharma if it is abusive in its pricing practices;

4.       Reciprocal Memorandums of Understanding between regulatory agencies of Tier One Countries as validation of the safety and efficacy of the oversight of personally imported medicines from those countries;

5.       Passing legislation that allows personal importation of brand-name medicines from licensed registered pharmacies in Tier One Countries whose standards of safety and efficacy meet or exceed those of the U.S.;

5.      Impose criminal penalties for abuse of pricing practices based on a ‘what the traffic will bear’ philosophy;

6.       Greater transparency in Pharma pricing practices;

7.       An end to direct to consumer advertising for prescription medicines

“When these steps are taken—and only then—will we remove the burden of paying the highest prices in the industrialized world for our medications,” Hines concludes.

RxforAmericanHealth publisher calls for bi-partisan Consensus, Coalition legislation in Congress To lower prescription costs

Publisher's Note:  This news release is being sent to Congressman and Senators, as well as to media across the nation.

St. Louis, November 5, 2015--The publisher of Rx for American Health is calling for a coalition of Senators and Representatives and their staffs to reach consensus on a single comprehensive bill incorporating major points of a number of disparate legislative proposals to lower prescription medicine prices, and to be prepared to offer their bill immediately  with the reconvening of the  114^th Congress in January 2016.

Daniel Hines says that the national outrage over the ‘predatory’ pricing practices of Pharma offers an opportunity to incorporate such issues as ending ‘pay to delay’, personal importation of brand name medicines from Tier One Countries, price negotiation of medicines for Medicare and Medicaid, a recognition of a ‘stakeholder’ right for the citizens and advocates for the American public that is a major source of funding through taxes for Research and Development costs of new medicines, and a review process for patent continuation by drug companies that are found to violate the law.

“I have always hoped that the public, policy makers and media would someday recognize that a medicine that is unaffordable is equally unavailable, and, by extension, a medicine that is unavailable is equally incapable of providing any health benefit,” Hines notes.  “Now that day has come.

“This creates a climate of opportunity for long-suffering Americans who have paid steadily increasing prices for their medications. It creates a climate of opportunity to end Pharma actions that create costly—and too often unaffordable medicines—that are a major driver of health care costs.  It creates a climate of opportunity to recognize the role of the American patient, caregiver, family member as having ‘stakeholder’ rights that merit a seat at the table in the form of ordinary citizens and/or their advocates.”

Hines said it was gratifying to see the furor in Congress about prescription prices and the many forums, task forces, and various legislation that has been brought forth, but he asks, “after the many hearings are held, after the Forums are over, after the Task Forces disband, after Pharma and its front groups launch their counterattack using the vast financial support of literally dozens of members of Congress and the army of lobbyists that will be turned loose on Capitol Hill, the question remains: 

“Will this be, as Henry A. McKinnell,, the then-chairman of Pfizer scolded then-Governor Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota in a press conference following a shareholders’ meeting in St. Louis, the seeming outrage would be nothing more than a ‘Prairie Fire that comes along every four years as a product of the elections and then ‘burns itself out.

“Most importantly, it creates a climate in which the totality of the harmful  effects of Pharma pricing  strategies has been exposed.  The challenge: Will Congress exercise leadership to take the steps that will ensure success?

“It is crucial that Congress acts to ensure that the U.S. joins the rest of the industrialized world to ensure that our citizens have access to affordable, safe, and innovative medicines that will enhance the health and well-being of all Americans,” he concludes.