Community Rallies In Olympia, Demands End To Prescription Drug Switching Legislation

More than 100 African American health advocates, patients and veterans rallied in Olympia this week, along with groups and individuals from other Communities of Color to oppose measures that would force low-income patients to switch their medicines to the cheapest brands.

As reported in The Medium last week, many members of the African American community called on their representatives in the 37th and 11th legislative districts to stop efforts to impose restrictions on patient medicines.

Members of the National Association for Black Veterans (NABVETS) were among those who went to Olympia this week to protest the bill (SSB 6368).

“It is well known that different medicines affect different people in different ways. For that very reason, our elected representatives should continue to allow unrestricted access to medicines for all populations served by state health plans,” said Lloyd Burroughs, legislative director of NABVETS. “Sadly, poor veterans most often must turn to Medicaid or nursing homes, where these practices will compound their already difficult circumstances.”

Members of NABVETS and others have specifically asked Senate and House members who represent districts with high populations of minorities to vote against the bill. This proposal will force many Medicaid recipients, many of whom are people of color, to get all their medicines from a so-called ”preferred drug list” which simply means a list of the cheapest medicines the state can buy.

The bill only appears to make exceptions for some classes of drugs and seems to give doctors the ability to not use the list by writing, “dispense as written” on the prescription. However, the measure would ultimately give power to a government bureaucrat to override the doctor’s orders.

Under the bill, even if doctors are willing to write the prescription for a medicine that is not on the “preferred list” by writing “do not substitute,” their patient files will be audited by the Medicaid department and they will be forced to explain their medical decisions and opinions to state bureaucrats who do not have medical degrees.

“In these days of heightened support for the men and women who risk their lives defending our country, it is appalling that our own state legislature would mount its own war against veterans who deserve better than this,” added Burroughs. “Forcing them to accept the cheapest drugs and the hassles of more healthcare bureaucracy is just plain wrong.”

Most cheaper medicines are older agents. Many were never tested on people of color.

”We were against and excluded from most of the clinical trials of the older, generic drugs and other medical breakthroughs, just as we were excluded from education, jobs and economic development opportunities. That’s why so many of us experience such bad side effects from taking the generics,” said Eddie Rye, Jr., long-time community activist.

There is an overwhelming body of highly credible medical information that now exists. It conclusively shows that there are clear, definable differences in the way medicines react when given to people of color. Critics complain that there are too many medical problems like mental health, heart disease and diabetes to be forced into a “one-size-fits-all” program.

“There are amendments being proposed, to ask the doctors putting this list together to voluntarily review any material on the differences between the races,” said Rye. “First of all, they haven’t studied us much because we didn’t matter, so there is very little information at all. Secondly, do you really think someone is going to be that sensitive when they don’t even try to understand our culture? Rather than insult people of color by trying to find amendments that will ‘satisfy’ our opposition to the bill, we are asking you to abandon this program before it begins.”

Raymond Miller is regional director and Washington State commander of the National Association of Black Veterans, Inc.