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Home > Blogs > Ohio politics > Archives > 2009 > July > 14 > Entry
Brown “disappointed and discouraged” that committee won’t push generics
Sen. Sherrod Brown faced a setback late Monday, July 13, in his efforts to create a pathway to generic biologic drugs.
His amendment to the health care reform bill, which would’ve given biologic drugs a seven-year period of exclusivity on the market before generics could be introduced, failed in the Senate Health, Environment, Labor and Pensions Committee. The committee instead opted for a 12-year period where they could go without competition.
Biologic drugs, typically administered by a health care professional, include Herceptin, which is administered for breast cancer, and Remicade, a treatment for rheumatoid arthritis. They can be incredibly expensive: Annual treatment for Herceptin runs about $48,000 and Remicade runs about $20,000 for a year. Part of the reason is there’s no current route to producing generic versions of these drugs.
Brown, D-Ohio, had hoped to give biologic drug producers a seven-year period to recoup the cost of creating the drugs, arguing 12 years was too much time and cut off access to for some consumers who needed the drugs. While costs for some biologic drugs are up to $100,000 a year, the average household in Ohio makes $46,000 a year, he said.
The vote against his amendment, he said, “was not in the best interest of taxpayers, it was in the best interest of the large drug companies.” He blamed his amendment’s defeat on the pharmaceutical industry’s influence over his fellow senators, and vowed to renew his fight when the bill hits the Senate floor.
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Comments
By green jeans
July 16, 2009 3:35 PM | Link to this
Sherrod will give you an honest comment. He does not have ties to pharmacutical companies.By betty w
July 16, 2009 12:53 PM | Link to this
I wish we could swith Sherrod Brown for Portman. Brown doesn’t do anything except follow Nancy Pelosi’s party line. We need someone who can and will help the southern Ohio people who have lost their jobsBy fedup
July 15, 2009 5:23 PM | Link to this
Sherrod Brown is a good person and has his heart in the right place. He is on the side of working people and not in bed with insurance and big pharma.By fedup
July 15, 2009 5:23 PM | Link to this
Sherrod Brown is a good person and has his heart in the right place. He is on the side of working people and not in bed with insurance and big pharma. It’s too bad people here are not smart enough to realize that.By TRS
July 15, 2009 11:42 AM | Link to this
Flipper’s right! Brown has never held a job which involved normal principles of the free enterprise system such as profit and loss.By flipper
July 15, 2009 8:51 AM | Link to this
Sherrod Brown knows nothing about pharmaceuticals.He is a goof and needs to go sit down in the corner.