The District of Columbia Council Jan. 8 approved a bill that would place greater restrictions on pharmaceutical sales representatives, although without a provision that would have limited data mining of prescription records.

Previously, the bill would have prohibited the use of certain prescription records for marketing purposes without the consent of a physician.

The legislation's lead sponsor, Councilman David A. Catania (I), chose to strip the bill of its language on data mining while he awaits rulings on court cases in Maine and New Hampshire, according to Benjamin Young, Catania's chief of staff.

In 2006, New Hampshire passed the first law in the nation restricting the use of prescription data. However, in April 2007, a federal court struck down the law, holding that the state failed to demonstrate a substantial governmental interest in protecting the privacy of prescribing physicians (5 PLIR 457, 5/4/07 a0b4k9m0d4 ).

The New Hampshire attorney general appealed the decision to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit (5 PLIR 1111, 10/26/07 a0b5g7y4a1 ). The First Circuit heard oral argument in the case Jan. 9.

A federal judge in Maine Dec. 21, 2007, struck down on First Amendment grounds that state's law that sought to restrict the sale of physician prescribing data (6 PLIR 9, 1/4/08 a0b5p3z8t2 ). The state has not indicated whether it also will appeal to the First Circuit.

Young said Catania would introduce the prescription data restriction provisions in a separate bill if Catania views the final court rulings as favorable.

The council approved the SafeRx Act of 2007 (B17-364) by a vote of 7-6. It would prohibit pharmaceutical sales representatives from marketing their products in a deceptive or misleading way and subject them to local enforcement.

The vote was the council's final action on the bill after its members also approved it 7-6 during an initial vote in December. The council placed the bill on its voting agenda in November.

D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty (D) has sent two separate letters in support of the bill and is expected to sign the measure into law, according to Young. The legislation has to clear a period of congressional review before it would take effect.

Maryland Rx Data Bill Introduced

Meanwhile, a Maryland bill (H.B. 50) to restrict the use of Rx data received its first reading Jan. 9 and was referred to the Health and Government Operations Committee.

H.B. 50, sponsored by Del. Karen S. Montgomery (D), would direct the state secretary of health and mental hygiene to create a directory of drug prescribers who have consented to being contacted for drug marketing or promotional purposes.

Under H.B. 50, a drug company, drug marketer, or any other individual or entity engaged in the handling of prescription information would be subject to fines of up to $25,000 and imprisonment of up to three years for marketing drugs to a prescriber who did not consent to being included in the prescriber directory.

The proposed law would direct the state secretary of budget and management to prohibit drug companies and marketers who do business with the State Employee and Retiree Health and Welfare Benefits Program "from obtaining or using prescriber identifying information for marketing or promoting a prescription drug.

The text of Maryland H.B. 50, as prefiled, is available at http://mlis.state.md.us/2008RS/bills/hb/hb0050f.pdf.