A few days ago, I was walking home in San Francisco, when I saw this billboard ad about California Proposition 61 (edits in blue are mine):

A misleading “No on 61” billboard near Mission and 6th in San Francisco. Edits saying “YES” are my correction.

I had heard about the underhanded tactics of the pharmaceutical-industry-funded “No Prop 61” campaign, but even then I was surprised to see such blatant deception in my neighborhood. After seeing all the misinformation spread by the “No on 61” campaign, I decided that enough is enough.

It is up to us to stand up to the pharmaceutical industry, and spread the truth about Prop 61.

What is Prop 61?

Prop 61 supports regulating drug prices by requiring that California state agencies pay the same price for prescription medicine as the US Department of Veteran Affairs — which is able to negotiate with manufacturers and receive discounted prices below their federally-mandated price ceiling. Specifically, California’s discount would apply to CA state agencies that buy medication for various individuals, such as those enrolled in the Medi-Cal fee-for-service system, public employees and retirees enrolled in CalPERS, and state prison inmates.

A total of 5 million individuals would be affected in the state, and these individuals deserve strong negotiating power over the greed of the price-ramping, transparency-phobic pharmaceutical industry. Moreover, a yes vote can change the political tides and put pressure on other states’ agencies to follow suit on discounts, creating a downward pressure on our drug prices. It can also apply renewed pressure on the federal government to finally negotiate prices for seniors and others covered by Medicare Part D — something it is currently barred from, thanks to pharmaceutical industry lobbyists.

Why is “No Prop 61” saying Prop 61 will hurt veterans?

The “No Prop 61” campaign’s citation for its billboard comes from a VA memo that reads:

“For financial planning purposes, VA should assume the California ballot measure will be endorsed by voters and that the pharmaceutical industry will react by eliminating all non-statutorily required and non-contractually required VA pharmaceutical discounts. In addition, VA should develop a broad array of countermeasures that can be implement[ed] should the ballot measure pass and the pharmaceutical industry react as expected.” [emphasis mine]

In other words, “No Prop 61” is saying that the measure will hurt veterans because the pharmaceutical industry — in all its greed — will retaliate by raising prices on veterans and refusing to honor some of the VA’s discounts (below the federally-mandated VA price ceiling). The kicker? “No Prop 61” is supported by tens of millions of dollars from the pharmaceutical industry.

Pharmaceutical companies are literally spending millions to say that if you vote Yes on 61, they will threaten veterans’ health, and are using that to manipulate you into voting No.

The largest donors to “No Prop 61”. Taken from Ballotpedia, originally from the FPPC.

Many of the supporters of “No Prop 61” are pharmaceutical companies that spend far more on sales and marketing, including physician-directed marketing, than R&D. If the “No” side can afford to spend $86 million opposing this ballot initiative, maybe — just maybe — they can afford to provide pharmaceutical drugs at a lower cost, relative to the rest of the OECD. Instead, they are afraid that Prop 61 will hurt their profit margins by a few percentage points, and are using underhanded tactics and threats to stop it.

How do we hold pharmaceutical industries accountable?

You may, at this point, wonder, “How can I fight back?” How can we ensure that Prop 61 passes? How can we make sure that companies like Johnson & Johnson don’t threaten veterans, and don’t threaten state agencies purchasing medications for low-income and retired individuals?

The answer is twofold. First, Californians must vote YES on Prop 61, as a major first step towards transparency and increased drug discounts. We should also inform our friends about No Prop 61’s lies, and donate to the relatively underfunded Yes on 61 campaign. In terms of volunteering, we can get involved with the Yes on 61 campaign, and sign up to help other supporting groups like Our Revolution, which will make calls to support Yes on 61 on Tuesdays and Thursdays 6–8 PM PT.

Second, as always, we must apply pressure on our government to ensure that discounts and drug coverage remain in place for veterans and state agencies as intended. While the pharmaceutical industry may be bluffing with its threat against the Department of Veterans Affairs (since the VA already has legally-protected price ceilings) and its threats of noncompliance (since refusing to sell discounted medication can hurt their profits), we must be prepared to apply grassroots pressure on follow-up legislation and follow-up initiatives to solidify lower prescription drug prices.

We must also apply pressure on the federal level, by vocally pushing for greater transparency to ease negotiations, allowing Medicare to negotiate prices with pharmaceutical companies, and allowing the US to re-import drugs from Canada — with quality checks — to increase competition.

The pharmaceutical industry has one of the largest profit margins of any industry in this country, and is a major lobbyist and campaign contributor. They spend millions on campaigns and political consultants to distort the truth and maintain their profits. Their selfish behavior can no longer be allowed to hold our government or our veterans hostage, when millions of lives and livelihoods are at stake. Californians must vote YES on Prop 61.