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PPC Legal Conference

Lawyering for Access: Legal Strategies to Improve Access to Affordable Pharmaceuticals

In the wake of news that pharmaceutical giant, Pfizer, will pay a record $2.3 billion penalty for unlawful prescription drug promotions, there has been much discussion about the roles of legislation and litigation in pharmaceutical policy.

PPC and the Program on Information Justice and Intellectual Property (PIJIP) cosponsored the legal conference, Lawyering for Access: Legal Strategies to Improve Access to Affordable Pharmaceuticals. The conference, which was held on Friday, October 16, 2009 at American University Washington College of Law in Washington, DC, included speakers who were involved in the Pfizer settlement and other significant health care cases. (See panelists at right.)

VISIT THE pijip web site to view the webcast (Scroll down to Friday, October 16, 2009 Legal Strategies . . .)

The Lawyering for Access conference is part of PPC’s work on state policy regarding pharmaceuticals, including state regulation of prescription data mining, conflicts between state pricing policies and federal trade policies, federal trade agreement impacts on state regulatory authority, etc. Conference participants had the opportunity to learn more about actions state governments have taken to improve access to safe, effective, and affordable prescription drugs.

State Legislative Efforts Panel

Sean Flynn, Associate Director, Program on Information Justice and Intellectual Property: The Interplay Between Data Mining Legislation and Litigation

Robin Lunge, Vermont Legislative Counsel: The Passage and Amendment of Vermont’s Physician Payment Disclosure Law

Sharon Treat, Legal Project Director, Prescription Policy Choices

Ann Woloson, Executive Director, Prescription Policy Choices: The Conception of Maine’s Marketing to Minors Law

Pharmaceutical Litigation: Safety, Pricing, and Promotion Panel

Michael Loucks, Acting US Attorney, District of Massachusetts: US v Pharmacia & Upjohn Company, Inc--Prosecuting Pharmaceutical Fraud under Criminal and Civil Law

Wells Wilkinson, Director, Prescription Access Litigation: The Role of Private Litigation in Policing Pharma Practices

Allison Zieve, Director, Public Citizen Litigation Group: Wyeth v. Levine--Preserving a State Right of Action in Pharmaceutical Litigation