The District of Columbia Council in January approvedlegislation that would require pharmaceutical sales representatives to obtainlicenses to operate within city limits.
The measure is a first for any jurisdiction in the country.The narrow 7-to-6 vote marked both a loss and a victory for the pharmaceuticalindustry and the data-collection firms that lobbied the council to reverse itsinitial affirmative vote last month.
The council was able to strip the bill of earlier languageoffered by Independent Council member David Catania that would have banned theuse of doctors’ prescription data for marketing purposes without their consent.
Similar laws have passed in New Hampshire, Vermont andMaine. Data collection firms have sued and US District judges in New Hampshireand Maine have overturned the laws, citing the restriction of commercial freespeech.
Catania said in a Washington Post report that he pulled theproposal to ban data mining “out of an abundance of caution.” He said he maypropose a separate measure later this year after seeing whether the judges’rulings are overturned on appeals.
Democratic Council member Harry Thomas Jr., who has been oneof the most vocal opponents of the legislation, said he was glad that Cataniahad finally “seen the light.” Thomas had argued that a ban on data-mining couldlead to a costly, no-win lawsuit for the city.
Democrats Yvette Alexander, Marion Barry, Muriel Bowser, JimGraham and Republican Carol Schwartz voted against the measure despite theamendment.
Under the bill, the city would establish a pharmacy boardthat would license pharma salespeople who would also have to sign a code ofethics. They would be prohibited from using titles that would give theimpression that they are licensed to practice medicine, pharmacy or nursing andwould have to be college graduates to qualify for a license, The Post reported.
Passage of thebill could pave the way for other states to try to pass similar legislation.
From the February 01, 2008 Issue of MM+M - Medical Marketing and Media
