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NC Senate passes bill to reform prescription drug market, enhance transparency

  • Writer: IPMD
    IPMD
  • May 14
  • 2 min read

The North Carolina Senate passed Wednesday, with unanimous support, a bill sponsors say is aimed at leveling the playing field for independent pharmacies and enhancing transparency through new regulations and oversight.


The bill “is one of the most sweeping reforms with respect to how we regulate the prescription drug market here in North Carolina,” said Sen. Benton Sawrey, a Clayton Republican and a primary sponsor of the bill.


It “provides us with needed transparency” and “protects our consumers,” Sawrey said Wednesday.


The House passed its own pharmacy-related bill in late April, which also seeks to reform the industry.


Senate leader Phil Berger said the Senate’s bill was “vetted significantly” by many interests with a stake in the health care industry.


In response to concerns that the bill could lead to increased health care costs, Berger said, “It’s my belief that the Senate approach actually addresses those concerns in a way that should not lead to the kind of cost inflation that the House approach would lead to.“


He said he believed the North Carolina Chamber of Commerce, a statewide business advocacy organization, supports the bill.


Efforts to regulate pharmacy benefit managers, or PBMs, have failed in the past, including a stalled 2023 attempt by Rep. Wayne Sasser, who criticized PBMs for their opaque practices, as reported by The News & Observer.


The House and Senate will need to reconcile their versions of the bill for it to become law — something that has eluded the legislature for years.


On the possibility of a consensus being reached, Berger said it “remains to be seen.”


“I’m hopeful that we will. I think everybody agrees something needs to be done in that space, and we’ve just not been able to get something that we can build some agreement on,” he said.


Convoluted industry


The pharmaceutical distribution industry is complex, with numerous players... CONTINUE READING


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