After lobbying by the pharmaceutical industry, a Philadelphia City Council committee late last week agreed to amend a controversial ordinance that would ban drug makers from giving gifts to doctors and also require all sales reps to become licensed in hopes of blunting the opioid crisis.
The key concession by the lawmakers was to offer an exemption for conventions, while yet another exemption would delay enforcement for 180 days after the ordinance becomes law. As it so happens, the BIO trade group has such an event scheduled in Philadelphia in early June.
In discussing the move, William Greenlee, a City Council member-at-large who co-sponsored the ordinance, maintained the committee tried to thread a needle amid opposition from the Philadelphia Convention & Visitors Bureau, which he told us expressed concerns about the effects on the local economy. We asked the bureau for comment and will pass along any reply.
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