Arizona was the first state to bite the bullet and allow pharmaceutical companies to communicate off-label uses of their drugs to physicians and other healthcare professionals. This article not only discusses the Arizona bill but also outlines some factors that may help us to understand where the landscape is heading on this issue.
As many of our readers know all too well, pharmaceutical companies are not permitted to discuss off-label, legal, alternative uses for an approved drug with physicians and other healthcare professionals as regulated by the FDA. However, in Arizona, The Free Speech in Medicine Act, recently passed the State of Arizona House of Representatives unanimously.
On March 21, 2017, Governor Doug Ducey signed the bill into law, lifting the aforementioned off-label promotion restriction and allowing drug companies to communicate with doctors and other healthcare providers about safe and effective alternative uses for approved prescription drugs.