US Senate blocks Mediare bill that would have allowed drug price negotiations

The US Senate has failed to pass a bill - S 3, The Medicare Fair Prescription Drug Price Act of 2007 - which would have allowed the government to negotiate drug prices with pharmaceutical manufacturers (Marketletters passim). The Democratic majority was unable to secure the 60 votes (with a deficit of five) needed to begin to debate and vote on the legislation.

The House of Representatives passed a stronger bill - HR 4 - earlier this year, also requiring the Secretary of Health and Human Services to negotiate pharmaceutical prices with manufacturers.

Not surprisingly, the news received mixed reactions, with the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America pleased, the likes of the AARP, which represents older people in the USA, highly disappointed with the result and Speaker Nancy Pelosi saying "the American people have lost and the special interests won."