Some US drugmakers lobbying to limit e-prescribing of generics, alleges PCMA

Some drug manufacturers in the USA are aggressively pushing legislative proposals in North Dakota and other states across the country that, if enacted, would undermine electronic prescribing's (e-prescribing) proven safety and savings benefits, alleges the Pharmaceutical Care Management Association (PCMA), which represents the nation's pharmacy benefit managers.

"This campaign undermines e-prescribing's two main goals: improving patient safety and reducing prescription drug costs. Doctors should be able to check for dangerous drug-drug interactions and help patients find affordable options," says Mark Merritt, president and chief executive of the PCMA, which also describes the moves as a “quiet campaign to raise prescription costs and undermine safety.”

E-prescribing provides physicians with clinical and cost information on prescription options that allows them to better counsel patients on which medications - including various lower cost alternatives - will be the safest and most affordable choices, says the PCMS. The e-prescribing framework was enacted in 2003 in the Medicare Modernization Act (MMA).