NORTHWEST
East Oregonian
Page 2A
Saturday, March 4, 2017
Drug makers skeptical about impact of curtailing drug prices
By PARIS ACHEN
Capital Bureau
SALEM — Pharmaceutical
representatives warned an experi-
mental bill to curtail the rising cost
of prescription drugs could have
unintended consequences on the
quality and availability of drugs in
Oregon.
“I am concerned that it will
stifle innovation,” said Sandra
Shotwell, CEO of DesignMedix,
a drug developer that got its start
at Portland State University.
The legislation by Rep. Rob
Nosse, D-Portland, goes farther
than any other law in the nation to
regulate prescription prices.
The bill would cap patients’
out-of-pocket copayment for
prescriptions, require pharmaceu-
tical companies to explain steep
increases in the cost of a medi-
cation and mandate rebates when
prices exceed a certain threshold.
Oregonians need relief from
exorbitant drug prices, but
addressing the problem is compli-
cated, Nosse said.
“The way drugs are developed
and the way they are paid for
program forward, they say to me:
What about government policies?
What about things like price
caps?” she said.
A coalition of 10 health
care organizations, such as The
Leukemia & Lymphoma Society
and the American Cancer Society
Cancer Action Network, also have
concerns about how the bill could
impact research and availability of
drugs.
“There is no precedent for
doing something like this, said
Thea Zajac, regional director
of governmental affairs for The
Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.
“It is just a big unknown. It’s
really hard to know how it would
play out.”
The coalition has offered an
alternative proposal in the Senate
that would require insurers to
offer at least one plan at each level
that requires only a set copayment
for prescription drugs. Other plans
often require patients to pay a
percentage of the drug’s cost.
“Patients
have
reported
going into debt, forgoing other
necessary expenses and, at worst,
abandoning
their
treatment
makes solving this problem very
hard,” the Portland lawmaker said.
The story of one Oregon family,
featured in the Portland Business
Journal, stands out, Nosse said.
When Les Rogers’ 4-year-old
daughter was diagnosed with a
rare seizure disorder, the family
learned the treatment, a drug called
Acthar, cost $35,000 per vial. The
drug has been available since the
1950s, but when California-based
Questcor Pharmaceuticals bought
the rights to it, the company raised
the price by 85,000 percent, from
$45 a vial, Nosse noted.
DesignMedix has for the
past nine years been building on
research initiated at PSU. The
start-up company has received
state support from the Venture
Development Fund and has
contracted for clinical trials and
capsules with Oregon companies,
DesignMedix CEO Shotwell said.
The company can only take
the product so far before it will
need the help of a pharmaceutical
company to run expensive and
complicated clinical trials.
“When I ask investors to
help us with the funds to move a
Tuition hike
of 10.6 percent
approved for UO
completely,” Zajac wrote in a
statement about the bill. “Patients
who abandon treatment can end
up getting sicker and perhaps
even end up back in the hospital,
which only triggers more costs
to our healthcare system. Simply
put, high cost-sharing lowers
medication adherence, a problem
estimated to cost the US $290
billion annually.”
The proposal caps out-of-
pocket patient copayments to
$100 per drug per month. Phar-
maceutical manufacturers would
be required to explain to the
Oregon Department of Consumer
and Business Services any price
increases that exceed $10,000, or
3.5 percent a year.
Finally, the bill requires DCBS
to calculate the average cost of
drugs sold in 35 industrialized
nations that are members of
the Organisation for Economic
Cooperation and Development.
Pharmaceutical
manufacturers
would be required to provide
rebates to insurers for the differ-
ence between the average cost in
those other nations and the actual
cost in the United States.
EUGENE (AP) — University of
Oregon trustees have approved tuition
increases for the upcoming school year
of 10.6 percent for in-state students and
3 percent for out-of-state students.
The Register-Guard reported that
Thursday’s 11-1 decision by the trustees
means that the cost of attendance for
the 2017-18 school year including
fees will be $11,931 for residents and
$34,611 for nonresidents.
The university’s chief financial
officer, Jamie Moffitt, said the tuition
increase is necessary because the state
Legislature did not increase funding
for schools next year even though
next year’s costs are increasing by $25
million.
About 40 students attended the
meeting, urging trustees not to approve
the increase.
Freshman Maria Slade said the
increase will be a huge burden for her
parents and that her father had told her
he would have to work until he reaches
age 70 for her to stay at the school.
“I hated that. I’m unwilling to watch
my parents make more sacrifices to
keep me in a school that, as is apparent
with this proposed increase, doesn’t
seem to care whether I stay or go,”
Slade said.
Board member Peter Bragdon
said lobbying is needed with state
lawmakers to ensure better university
funding and avoid future tuition
increases.
Higher education leaders have
asked the Oregon Legislature for an
additional $100 million more than the
$667 million that Gov. Kate Brown has
proposed for public universities in her
budget.
The state faces a $1.6 billion short-
fall driven by rising costs in the state’s
public pension system and Medicaid,
as well as unfunded directives passed
by voters in November.
About $7 million of the cost increase
is required by the Public Employees
Retirement System’s demands. Moffitt
said that required retirement system
payment will increase by a similar
figure every two years for the next
three or four budget cycles.
The Legislature has long been
looking for a solution to curb rapidly
rising costs associated with the public
retirement system.
Oregon lawmakers push to protect pot users’ info from U.S.
SALEM. (AP) — Oregon
lawmakers worried about a
nationwide crackdown on legal
marijuana under President Donald
Trump’s administration are rushing
to protect the personal information
of pot customers in case federal
agents try to seize it.
A bipartisan group of lawmakers
is taking one of the first direct state
actions in response to White House
spokesman Sean Spicer last week
suggesting a boost in enforcement
of federal anti-marijuana laws.
U.S. Attorney General Jeff
Sessions said this week that the
Justice Department is reviewing
an Obama-era memo giving states
flexibility in passing marijuana
laws.
The committee that crafts
Oregon’s pot policies has proposed
legislation that requires marijuana
businesses to destroy customers’
personal information, such as
names, addresses and birth dates,
gathered for marketing purposes,
within 48 hours.
The measure is scheduled for its
first hearing Tuesday. It must pass
the full Legislature and be signed
by the Democratic governor, who’s
vowed to fight federal interference
in Oregon’s pot market.
“I could see where the federal
government would come in and
try to gather this information from
information is to reach out to
them — it’s marketing, just like
any retailer,” said Donald Morse,
executive director of the Oregon
Cannabis Business Council.
Some lawmakers and marijuana
industry experts say the ramifica-
tions also could be far-reaching
for some recreational users and
medical cardholders, who might be
federal employees or have permits
to carry concealed weapons.
“When you go to purchase
a firearm, you have to fill out a
background check, and there’s a
specific question about marijuana
use on that form,” said Senate
Republican Leader Ted Ferrioli,
also a bill sponsor. “I would hate to
think that some misguided effort at
the federal level to coordinate the
client lists that could be confiscated
in absence of this (proposal) with
the firearms purchase lists.”
More than half the country has
approved legalized marijuana in
some form, mostly for medical
purposes. Any federal attempt to
crack down on recreational pot
could affect medical marijuana
users because the markets are
increasingly integrated.
State pot programs have rolled
out without federal interference
largely from two key Obama-era
directives, both of which are under
federal review.
AP Photo/Ryan Kang, File
In this 2015 file photo employees of Amazon Organics, a
marijuana dispensary in Eugene, help customers purchase rec-
reational marijuana.
businesses that have stockpiled it
and retained it in their records,”
said Democratic state Sen. Floyd
Prozanski, a bill sponsor who is
also a prosecutor. “I think we as
legislators have a duty to protect
our citizens.”
Eight states and the District of
Columbia have legalized mari-
juana for recreational use. Shops
that sell the drug are open in four
states and are required to check IDs
to verify that customers are at least
21.
But many in Oregon go
further, keeping an internal log
of customers’ personal details to
promote their product, including
special deals and discounts on
birthdays. Some dealers even log
driver’s license numbers to track
each marijuana product a person
buys and on which dates, which
helps customers buy an item again
even if they forget its name.
Colorado and Alaska prohibit
retaining that private information.
It’s also frowned upon, although
not illegal, in Washington state.
“The reason we keep that
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REGIONAL CITIES
Forecast
TODAY
SUNDAY
A rain or snow
shower; some sun
Showers of rain
and snow; chilly
45° 30°
45° 27°
MONDAY
TUESDAY
Afternoon rain and
snow showers
A few showers;
snow chance early
Cloudy and breezy
PENDLETON TEMPERATURE FORECAST
43° 32°
53° 43°
56° 43°
HERMISTON TEMPERATURE FORECAST
47° 26°
47° 31°
PENDLETON
through 3 p.m. yesterday
TEMPERATURE
HIGH
LOW
57°
52°
67° (1994)
32°
32°
7° (1896)
PRECIPITATION
24 hours ending 3 p.m.
Month to date
Normal month to date
Year to date
Last year to date
Normal year to date
0.00"
0.00"
0.10"
3.92"
2.66"
2.61"
HERMISTON
through 3 p.m. yesterday
TEMPERATURE
HIGH
Yesterday
Normals
Records
LOW
58°
54°
67° (1936)
32°
31°
12° (1989)
PRECIPITATION
24 hours ending 3 p.m.
Month to date
Normal month to date
Year to date
Last year to date
Normal year to date
0.00"
0.00"
0.10"
3.46"
1.67"
2.34"
SUN AND MOON
Sunrise today
Sunset tonight
Moonrise today
Moonset today
First
Full
Mar 5
Mar 12
6:28 a.m.
5:46 p.m.
10:13 a.m.
none
Last
New
Mar 20
52° 41°
58° 42°
Seattle
46/35
ALMANAC
Yesterday
Normals
Records
44° 32°
Mar 27
Today
WEDNESDAY
Spokane
Wenatchee
41/27
42/26
Tacoma
Moses
46/32
Lake
Pullman
Aberdeen Olympia
Yakima 45/30
40/29
45/34
45/31
47/26
Longview
Kennewick Walla Walla
45/35
47/33 Lewiston
50/33
Astoria
44/32
45/33
Portland
Enterprise
Hermiston
45/35
Pendleton 40/26
The Dalles 47/31
45/30
49/28
La Grande
Salem
45/31
46/34
Albany
Corvallis 45/34
45/34
John Day
43/25
Ontario
Eugene
Bend
51/30
46/33
47/22
Caldwell
Burns
50/36
42/18
Astoria
Baker City
Bend
Brookings
Burns
Enterprise
Eugene
Heppner
Hermiston
John Day
Klamath Falls
La Grande
Meacham
Medford
Newport
North Bend
Ontario
Pasco
Pendleton
Portland
Redmond
Salem
Spokane
Ukiah
Vancouver
Walla Walla
Yakima
Hi
45
45
47
46
42
40
46
44
47
43
44
45
41
50
44
48
51
51
45
45
50
46
41
42
46
47
47
Lo
33
26
22
36
18
26
33
26
31
25
24
31
27
32
36
37
30
32
30
35
22
34
27
24
34
33
26
W
r
sh
sn
r
pc
c
r
r
r
sh
r
r
c
r
r
r
sh
c
r
r
c
r
c
r
r
r
c
Hi
42
39
35
43
31
34
41
40
47
34
34
39
35
43
42
44
42
48
45
42
40
42
35
36
42
46
45
Today
Beijing
Hong Kong
Jerusalem
London
Mexico City
Moscow
Paris
Rome
Seoul
Sydney
Tokyo
Lo
37
66
43
41
50
34
40
47
27
66
43
W
s
pc
pc
pc
pc
c
r
t
s
pc
pc
Lo
33
22
20
38
16
19
34
23
26
23
23
26
22
33
34
36
25
31
27
32
23
34
26
21
34
32
26
W
sh
sf
sf
r
sf
sn
sh
c
pc
sf
sf
sn
sn
c
sh
sh
sf
pc
sn
sh
sf
sh
sf
sf
sh
sf
sf
Lo
28
66
46
39
49
35
41
48
24
67
43
W
pc
pc
s
r
pc
sn
r
r
c
pc
pc
WINDS
Medford
50/32
Klamath Falls
44/24
(in mph)
Today
Sunday
Boardman
Pendleton
NW 3-6
NW 3-6
WSW 10-20
SW 8-16
UV INDEX TODAY
Shown is today’s weather. Temperatures are today’s highs and tonight’s lows.
REGIONAL FORECAST
Coastal Oregon: Cloudy and chilly today
with periods of rain. Mostly cloudy tonight
with showers.
Eastern and Central Oregon: Mostly cloudy
with a couple of showers around; snow level
as low as 3,000 feet.
Western Washington: Occasional rain today
and more showers tonight. Snow levels as
low as 500 feet at times.
Eastern Washington: Clouds and occasional
sunshine today; a rain or snow shower near
the Idaho border.
Cascades: Snow at times, heaviest this
afternoon, with new snow accumulations
today of 3-6 inches.
Northern California: Rain at times today;
cooler; snow levels lowering to near 5,000
feet.
0
1
2
1
1
COMMERCIAL PRINTING
Production Manager: Mike Jensen
541-215-0824 • mjensen@eastoregonian.com
Shown are noon positions of weather systems and precipitation. Temperature bands are highs for the day.
Sun.
Hi
52
74
61
50
73
40
52
57
51
76
56
NEWS
• To submit news tips and press releases: • call 541-966-0818 •
fax 541-276-8314 • email news@eastoregonian.com
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com/community/announcements
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editor@eastoregonian.com.
• To submit sports or outdoors information or tips:
541-966-0838 • sports@eastoregonian.com
NATIONAL WEATHER TODAY
Sun.
WORLD CITIES
Hi
57
73
58
52
73
39
50
61
52
74
55
Classified & Legal Advertising
1-800-962-2819 or 541-278-2678
classifieds@eastoregonian.com or legals@eastoregonian.com
Advertising Director: Marissa Williams
541-278-2669 • addirector@eastoregonian.com
Advertising Services: Laura Jensen
541-966-0806 • ljensen@eastoregonian.com
Multimedia Consultants:
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541-278-2678 • tbriggs@eastoregonian.com
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541-278-2683 • dhalladay@eastoregonian.com
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541-278-2687 • snewsom@eastoregonian.com
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541-278-2670 • dstinson@eastoregonian.com
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541-564-4538 • aworkman@eastoregonian.com
Subscriber services:
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— Founded Oct. 16, 1875 —
Corrections
The East Oregonian works hard to
be accurate and sincerely regrets any
errors. If you notice a mistake in the
paper, please call 541-966-0818.
0
8 a.m. 10 a.m. Noon 2 p.m. 4 p.m. 6 p.m.
0-2, Low
3-5, Moderate 6-7, High;
8-10, Very High;
11+, Extreme
The higher the AccuWeather.com UV Index™ num-
ber, the greater the need for eye and skin protection.
Forecasts and graphics provided by
AccuWeather, Inc. ©2017
-10s
-0s
showers t-storms
0s
10s
rain
20s
flurries
30s
40s
snow
ice
50s
60s
cold front
70s
80s
90s
100s
warm front stationary front
110s
high
low
National Summary: Rain will drench central and southern Texas today, while rain and
mountain snow impact the Northwest. Most other areas will be dry and sunny. The
Northeast will have one of the coldest days this winter.
Yesterday’s National Extremes: (for the 48 contiguous states)
High 85° in Tamiami, Fla.
Low -23° in Brimson, Minn.
NATIONAL CITIES
Today
Albuquerque
Atlanta
Atlantic City
Baltimore
Billings
Birmingham
Boise
Boston
Charleston, SC
Charleston, WV
Chicago
Cleveland
Dallas
Denver
Detroit
El Paso
Fairbanks
Fargo
Honolulu
Houston
Indianapolis
Jacksonville
Kansas City
Las Vegas
Little Rock
Los Angeles
Hi
68
61
37
40
56
65
51
21
60
41
42
32
63
68
34
75
8
45
82
66
47
67
70
76
68
68
Lo
41
40
12
15
37
42
37
10
36
24
33
18
53
38
23
50
-12
29
70
59
31
46
49
53
45
54
W
s
s
s
s
pc
s
c
pc
s
pc
sn
pc
c
pc
pc
s
sf
pc
sh
r
sn
pc
s
s
pc
pc
Sun.
Hi
68
66
40
40
54
66
44
33
65
62
54
50
67
68
46
78
4
50
80
72
60
70
66
67
61
61
Lo
42
50
18
23
28
54
29
19
44
41
48
41
61
36
40
55
-27
40
68
64
48
53
54
43
53
46
Today
W
pc
pc
s
s
c
pc
sn
s
s
pc
c
pc
sh
s
pc
s
pc
pc
sh
r
pc
pc
c
pc
sh
r
Louisville
Memphis
Miami
Milwaukee
Minneapolis
Nashville
New Orleans
New York City
Oklahoma City
Omaha
Philadelphia
Phoenix
Portland, ME
Providence
Raleigh
Rapid City
Reno
Sacramento
St. Louis
Salt Lake City
San Diego
San Francisco
Seattle
Tucson
Washington, DC
Wichita
Hi
58
68
76
38
45
64
68
31
63
66
36
80
17
23
52
62
53
60
68
60
64
60
46
81
42
66
Lo
37
46
66
33
37
39
58
15
49
45
16
56
3
9
28
32
35
44
46
43
56
47
35
53
22
49
W
s
s
pc
pc
pc
s
pc
s
pc
s
s
s
pc
s
s
pc
c
r
s
pc
pc
r
r
s
pc
s
Sun.
Hi
66
63
75
51
59
68
73
38
65
66
40
75
30
37
53
67
40
56
64
54
63
55
42
78
43
68
Lo
53
54
66
44
49
53
63
26
53
53
26
50
9
15
31
35
26
38
52
28
52
44
34
45
32
55
Weather (W): s-sunny, pc-partly cloudy, c-cloudy, sh-showers, t-thunderstorms, r-rain,
sf-snow flurries, sn-snow, i-ice.
W
pc
c
pc
c
pc
pc
sh
s
pc
pc
s
pc
s
s
s
pc
sf
r
c
r
sh
sh
sh
pc
s
c