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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 13, 2017)
3A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • MONDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2017 Controls sought for prescription drug prices Oregon could lead other states By PARIS ACHEN Capital Bureau SALEM — Backers say state legislation proposed this month would go further than any other state to control the price of prescription drugs to patients and insurers. A bill by state Rep. Rob Nosse, D-Portland, would cap patients’ out-of-pocket copay- ment for prescriptions, require pharmaceutical companies to explain steep increases in the cost of a medication and mandate rebates when prices exceed a certain threshold. “This bill will finally put some limits around what con- sumers pay and for the drugs that they need in order to con- tinue to lead healthy and pro- ductive lives and help us to take steps toward affordabil- ity, accountability and trans- parency,” Nosse said. Three other bills by Sen. Elizabeth Steiner Hayward would take similar steps but also require pharmaceuti- cal companies to include the average wholesale price of a drug in any type of direct con- sumer advertising. “Last week, there was a story about a $35,000 price tag for a drug that has been on the market longer than I have been alive, and that was almost back in the 1950s, but that is not an uncommon story,” said Steiner Hayward, who also is a family physician. The antiparasitic drug — mebendazole — is showing promise for treatment of brain tumors. “Historically, that drug has been $3 a pill; it’s now $369 a pill,” Steiner Hayward noted. “Those changes are unac- ceptable for Oregonians.” Work group Nosse said his bill came out of a work group that has been meeting since August to brain- storm solutions for the high cost of prescription drugs. The proposals cap out-of- pocket patient copayments — $250 per purchase in the Sen- ate plan, $500 in the House bill. Pharmaceutical manufac- turers would be required to explain to the state Department of Consumer and Business Services any price increases that exceed $10,000 or 3.5 per- cent a year. Finally, the bill requires Paris Achen/Pamplin Media Group Left to right, Rep. Rob Nosse, D-Portland; Jesse O’Brien of the Oregon State Public Inter- est Research Group; and Sen. Elizabeth Steiner Hayward, D-Beaverton, talk to reporters about legislation to rein in the cost of prescription drugs during a news conference Thursday at the state Capitol in Salem. the state to calculate the aver- age cost of drugs sold in 35 industrialized nations that are members of the Organisa- tion for Economic Coopera- tion and Development. Phar- maceutical manufacturers would be required to provide rebates to insurers for the dif- ference between the average cost in those other nations and the actual cost in the United States. Public hearings on the bills are tentatively set for the end of the month, the sponsors said. A coalition calling itself Oregonians for Affordable Drug Prices Now has coalesced Lawmakers deliberate on consolidating rules for medical, recreational marijuana Regulations under separate state agencies By PARIS ACHEN Capital Bureau SALEM — State legisla- tors are moving toward con- solidating the state’s medi- cal and recreational marijuana industries into one regulatory system. The co-chairwomen of the Joint Committee on Marijuana Regulation have dropped sev- eral bills that would move regulation of medical mar- ijuana from the Oregon Health Authority to the Ore- gon Liquor Control Commis- sion, the regulatory agency for recreational sales of the drug. Another proposal would estab- lish a separate agency specifi- cally for cannabis regulation. The Oregon Health Author- ity has regulated the medi- cal marijuana program since it was created through Bal- lot Measure 67 in 1998. When voters legalized recreational cannabis use with Measure 91 in 2014, regulation of the new program was assigned to the liquor commission, while the health authority retained over- sight of the medical program. Health authority offi- cials from the beginning were reluctant overseers, said Tom Burns, a marijuana policy consultant and former health authority administrator. The Oregon Health Author- ity’s tardy and ill-conceived rollout of rules and dedication of resources to the program was an “unmitigated disaster,” Burns said. Sweetheart Specials Tuesday February 14 th for Valentines Day Serving Dinner 3-9pm featuring... • 10-12 oz. COLD Water Australian Lobster Tail • 10 oz. New York Steak & Oysters • Halibut Oscar • Shellfi sh Pasta • Bacon Wrapped Chicken Dijon Regular Dinner Menu Also Available EO Media Group The state Legislature is considering bills that would place regulation of the state’s medical and recreational marijua- na programs under one agency. In time, it became appar- ent that two separate systems made little or no sense because of the health authority’s dis- interest in regulating the pro- gram, he said. “The medical suppliers, growers and patients said let us get it out of OHA to some- body who does want it and will work with us to make a pro- gram that works for us,” Burns said. But that sentiment may not permeate the entire med- ical marijuana industry and its patients, said state Rep. Carl Wilson, R-Grants Pass, a member of the legislative mar- ijuana regulation committee. “I think we all realize that there is a big push to have everybody under OLCC,” said Wilson, whose district covers the marijuana-fertile lands of southern Oregon. Custom Threads Store g n i s o l C Sale % 60 Commnunity Action Team will be holding two (2) free education workshops during the month of February in Clatsop County. The classes are held on Saturdays from 8:30 am to 4:30 pm in our Astoria offi ce as follows: Homeownership Workshop: Feb. 18 th Financial Education Workshop: Feb. 25 th Tuesday - Saturday 10 am - 5 pm 1282 Commercial Street Astoria OR 97103 503-325-7780 Call (503) 325-8098 or e-mail cindkp@cat -team.org. O ff EVERYTHING ‘Unlikely allies’ “This is a group of unlikely Coal-export terminal backer appeals denial of aquatic sublease Associated Press LONGVIEW, Wash. — Developers of a proposed coal-export terminal in southwest Washington have appealed after the state last month denied the project an aquatic lands sublease. Millennium Bulk Termi- nals and Northwest Alloys challenged the state’s deci- sion in Cowlitz County Supe- rior Court, The Daily News of Longview reported Sunday. Before leaving office, Public Lands Commissioner Peter Goldmark last month rejected a request from Northwest Alloys — orig- inally made in 2010 — to sublease the state’s aquatic lands to Millennium for the coal-export project. North- west Alloys owns the site of a former aluminum smelter where the coal terminal is proposed. The proposed terminal in Longview would handle up to 44 million metric tons of coal a year. The coal would arrive by train from Montana, Wyoming and other states to be stored and loaded on ships for export to Asia. The companies argue in court filings that the deci- sion infringes on their prop- erty rights. They also dispute Goldmark’s assertion that they didn’t provide adequate information about Millenni- um’s financial standing. Attorneys for the com- pany wrote that they have responded to numerous requests for information from the Department of Natural Resources and cooperated by providing extensive informa- tion demonstrating Millen- nium’s suitability as a sub- tenant under the lease. Department of Natural Resources spokesman Joe Smillie said the department is reviewing how to move forward, but he declined to comment on the pending litigation. New state Lands Com- missioner Hilary Franz said last month that Goldmark made the “right decision.” Franz has repeatedly said she opposes leasing state lands for fossil fuel projects. Millennium had previ- ously contended the existing lease with Northwest Alloys was sufficient, but now the companies say the appeal is a cautionary measure. W A NTED Alder and Maple Saw Logs & Standing Timber N orth w es t H a rdw oods • Lon gview , W A Contact: John Anderson • 360-269-2500 ner Homeow ship and Financial Education Workshops The Homeownership Workshop teaches shopping for a home, fi nancial readiness, understanding mortgages, the closing process and how to protect your investment. The Financial Education Workshop teaches budgeting, saving, goal setting, credit management, and improving overall fi nancial health. Community Action Team is your local HUD Approved Agency. Pre-registration is required. Fixtures for sale 503-738-7009 • 2427 S Roosevelt Hwy 101 South • Next to Motel 6 Part of the idea of splitting up regulation was to keep med- ical costs down for patients. The liquor commission insti- tuted much more strict and expensive regulations to report and track product, while health authority’s system relied largely on self-reporting. The health authority also charges lower fees for registration and licensing. “A lot of people have griped about OMMP (the Ore- gon Medical Marijuana Pro- gram) and OHA over time, but as they look at OLCC, they are starting to fall in love with OHA and OMMP again,” Wil- son said. Their hesitation in embrac- ing the liquor commission stems largely from the higher cost of producing marijuana in the recreational system, where fees are higher for almost everything and regulation is more onerous. Wilson said he would sup- port consolidation if lower fees were charged medical growers and suppliers and if medical growers could sell into the rec- reational market, which they are now prohibited from doing. Andre Ourso, manager of the health authority’s medi- cal marijuana program, said the health authority has had its “hands full” regulating the program. “It’s definitely taken its share of criticism, and in some cases, rightfully so,” Ourso said. “But overall I think we’ve done a very good job in han- dling the duties that have been handed down to us.” Nevertheless, health author- ity officials see the sense in consolidating the marijuana programs. “We can see that for bureau- cratic efficiency’s sake, there really shouldn’t be two parallel regulatory systems, but there is still going to be a necessity for patients to have a program to be in,” Ourso said. For example, patients don’t have to pay taxes when they purchase medical marijuana. They have access to higher concentrations of tetrahydro- cannabinol, the active ingredi- ent in cannabis, and they can buy more of it. “I do think there is a place for the registry program within the state of Oregon,” Ourso said. He said it’s up to “this Legislature to determine exactly how that would be shaped.” The Capital Bureau is a col- laboration between EO Media Group and Pamplin Media Group. around the legislation. Members include nurses, teachers, public-policy advo- cates, public unions, hospitals and medical groups, insurers and the Oregon State Phar- macy Association. allies,” said Jesse O’Brien, policy director for the Ore- gon State Public Interest Research Group, a coalition member. “We definitely don’t agree on everything, including on everything in health care, … but we all agree that it is urgently important for the state of Oregon to make the rising cost of prescription drugs a top priority this year, because it really is a heavy burden on every Oregonian.” The powerful pharma- ceutical lobby is expected to push back against the propos- als. PhRMA and the Oregon Bioscience Association have both issued statements on the legislation. “The proposal in its current form is fatally flawed,” said Caitlin A. Carroll, a Wash- ington, D.C.-based spokes- woman for PhRMA. “Impos- ing aggressive price controls on innovative, often life-sav- ing medicines to simply fatten the wallets of Oregon’s health insurers is irresponsible and could chill innovation, jobs, and private investment in the state for years to come.” The Capital Bureau is a collaboration between EO Media Group and Pamplin Media Group. S P E C I A L S ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ Steak & Lobster $ 45 ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ FREE Dessert with purchase of any 2 dinners ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ OPEN DAILY AT 11AM 1 BLOCK OFF BROADWAY • 1 BLOCK FROM BEACH 20 N. COLUMBIA, SEASIDE • 503-738-4331 NormasSeaside.com
