HARRISBURG – Pennsylvania today joined 40 other attorneys general in support of federal legislation that would give generic drug manufactures the same ability to correct label warnings as brand-name manufacturers.
U.S. Senate bill (S.2295) “Patient Safety and Generic Labeling Improvement Act,” would overturn a 2011 U.S. Supreme Court decision (PLIVA, Inc. v. Mensing), which held that state laws requiring generic manufacturers to adequately warn consumers of dangerous side effects are preempted because current federal law permits only brand-name manufacturers to independently change label warnings.
The attorneys general said that the adverse consequences of this decision are magnified by the fact that over 70 percent of U.S. prescriptions are filled with generic drugs.
In a letter to Senators Patrick Leahy and Al Franken the attorneys general said “Consumers whose prescriptions happen to be filled with the brand-name version of a drug are protected by state law from inadequate warnings, but consumers whose pharmacists fill their prescriptions with the generic versions are now denied this protection. Congress can readily cure this problem by amending federal law.”
The 41 state and territorial Attorneys General who signed onto the letter include; Louisiana, Minnesota, Vermont, American Samoa, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Delaware, Washington D.C., Guam, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Northern Mariana Islands, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Washington, West Virginia, and Wisconsin.
