As opposition to and concern about the activities of drug manufacturers continue to mount, increasingly states, and even cities, are stepping in to regulate pharmaceutical companies. This is the first in a two-part series focusing on the notable proposed state and city actions and laws and ordinances that have been or soon will be enacted in 2017. The article will focus on drug pricing transparency disclosure legislation that is being introduced at an ever-increasing rate. The pharmaceutical industry cannot fight each and every state and city action successfully. The truth of the matter is that the industry is losing ground and leadership within companies cannot begin to sacrifice their compliance and legal departments.
It is a basic principle of physics that nature abhors a vacuum, and thus will move quickly to fill the void. The same is true in the compliance world. Since the implementation of the Open Payments system, the Federal government has done little with the data other than post it. Nor has Congress attempted to address other pharmaceutical related issues like pricing.