New Hampshire Bill 1346 could have unintended consequences, says PhRMA

A controversy has arisen in the USA after the state of New Hampshire's Senate passed HB 1346, sponsored by Representative Cindy Rosenwald, that bans the sale of information which identifies a specific prescriber or patient on a drug prescription.

The Bill has already passed the House and, if it goes through, would be the first of its kind, comments the US Center for Policy Alternatives, which also points out that doctors generally are not aware that pharmaceutical industry representatives have access to "prescriber reports," which are weekly lists of each prescription written by every physician.

From the pharmaceutical industry's point of view, says Ken Johnson, senior vice president of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, "this legislation, if passed, could result in significant unintended consequences that could have an adverse impact on activities aimed at enhancing patient care and the appropriate use of medicines. Foreclosing all access to prescribing data could also hamper manufacturers' ability to alert physicians of important new information about medicines in a timely fashion."