Even more concerning, HB 505 would add a new fee of up to $15.47 to most prescriptions filled at the pharmacy counter – a cost that will especially hurt working families and small businesses. Many Ohioans, including more than 2.8 million seniors, take prescription drugs on a weekly or daily basis to stay healthy. Too many seniors are already struggling to afford groceries, rent, utilities and other health care costs. They shouldn’t have to deal with higher fees at the pharmacy as well.
HB 505 would roll back important safety standards for prescription drugs sold at specialty pharmacies – standards that we take for granted when it comes to ensuring that our medication is safe and effective. Lower quality and safety measures will hurt all of us, but especially patients dealing with serious and complex diseases like cancer.
Our lawmakers are often thoughtful and deliberate in their decision making, which is one of the things that makes them so successful and our state so great. I urge our lawmakers to reconsider this proposal and spend this year focused on our Republican priorities, not Bernie Sanders-style big government health care mandates.
Dr. Vijoy Prasad is a father of two kids in Dayton, Ohio with extensive knowledge on past and present pharmaceutical developments, having worked as a medical doctor and then lead pharmacy technician for a combined total of approximately 10 years.
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