A controversial Philadelphia ordinance that would have required sales reps to become licensed, prevented drug makers from giving gifts to doctors, and prohibited distribution of copay coupons for controlled substances was voted down amid lobbying by restaurants and pharmaceutical companies.
The ordinance, which was designed to blunt the effects of the opioid crisis, was defeated even after it was amended to pertain only to companies selling prescription drugs that are addictive, but not every drug manufacturer (more here). The final vote was 9 to 5, with two abstentions.
“This should have been a no-brainer,” Councilwoman Cindy Bass, one of the cosponsors of the ordinance, told us. “It would have involved some common-sense regulations to monitor how opioid prescribing is being influenced. We have a lot of people in Philadelphia dying from opioids.”
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