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Politico has published a story covering the recent resolution by state lawmakers urging USTR to exclude from the Trans Pacific Partnership any chapter on pharmaceutical pricing and reimbursements.  The resolution by the National Legislative Association on Prescription Drug Prices warns that state programs that provide access to medicines for low income Americans (including Medicaid) do not operate within the restrictive frameworks found in the pharmaceuticals chapters of other trade agreements.  The story quotes NLARx Counsel and PIJIP professor Sean Flynn: “We don’t think [USTR] should be negotiating international standards that governments within the U.S. don’t comply with.”

The NLARx resolution is here:

National Legislative Association on Prescription Drug Prices Resolution Opposing the Inclusion of a Pharmaceuticals Chapter in the Trans Pacific Partnership. January 21, 2011.

And here is an excerpt from the original story:

States: Trade deal will mean higher drug prices

Brett Coughlin
Politico, 2/11/11

State lawmakers seeking ways to cut prescription-drug costs are concerned that a provision in an upcoming trade deal may bar them from using some of the most effective tools now available.

Drugmakers are pushing for the provision in the Trans-Pacific Partnership deal being negotiated between the United States and eight Pacific region countries. A fifth round of talks is set to begin Monday in Chile. Drugmakers say it has no relation to how U.S. states handle prescription-drug purchases.

What PhRMA wants is a provision regulating foreign pharmaceutical reimbursement programs. States have analyzed these programs and determined that what these agreements are seeking would hinder state policies to control drug costs. For example, state Medicaid programs’ use of preferred drug lists that allow doctors to prescribe medicines without prior authorization could be scuttled.

The concern extends to the broader practice by U.S. trade negotiators of seeking international trade restrictions on pharmaceutical reimbursement programs. State leaders fear these restrictions could undermine reimbursement under Medicaid, Medicare Part B and government drug-purchasing programs like the one used by Veterans Affairs.

Their fear is that if the TPP is approved with a pharmaceutical chapter, other countries could demand a reciprocal agreement from the United States.

THE FULL STORY IS PASSWORD PROTECTED AT POLITICO.COM