Wednesday, June 29, 2016
COLUMBUS (AP) — Legal fireworks continue over a proposal that seeks to control the price Ohio pays for prescription drugs.
The Drug Price Relief Act aims to keep state entities from buying drugs at prices higher than the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs pays.
Opponents including the Ohio Manufacturers’ Association and the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America are challenging the effort in the Ohio Supreme Court.
They argue in filings continuing today that petition circulators failed to comply with Ohio law and certain signatures should be tossed.
The issue’s backers, led by the California-based AIDS Healthcare Foundation, were cleared June 4 to take the plan to voters after state lawmakers failed to act within four months on what’s called an initiated statute.
Proponents face a July 6 signature deadline for fall 2016.