Arkansas plans drug price legislation

In the US state of Arkansas, State Representative Bobby Lee Trammell hasintroduced a bill in the state legislature that would not allow drug companies to sell products in Arkansas for more than they cost in Mexico or Canada. It would also authorize a Fair Drug Pricing Board to set maximum prices, starting in 2002, and selling a prescription drug above that price would violate the state's Deceptive Trade Practices Act, according to an Associated Press report.

The pharmaceutical industry has said it will fight the proposal, adding that if it passed into law, it would not be upheld by the federal courts.

While agreeing that the plan might be challenged in the courts, Rep Trammell told the AP that he still wants to try to pass the legislation. The bill could come up in the Arkansas House Public Health, Welfare and Labor Committee in the next few weeks.