Let the Doctors Decide

The Washington Post
By Peter Pitts
December 15, 2007

The article on the D.C. Council's SafeRx Act [Metro, Dec. 12] neglected to mention the Pharmaceutical Education Fund, a key component of the bill that would have a devastating impact on public health.

Managed by the D.C. Health Department, this fund would establish "an evidence-based research, outreach and education program . . . to provide information on the therapeutic and cost-effective utilization of prescription drugs." In short, it would test whether newer, more expensive drugs work better than their older and cheaper counterparts.

Such testing sounds reasonable. But it will undoubtedly result in Medicaid covering far fewer breakthrough medicines, which would, in turn, force doctors to prescribe only the drugs that are paid for -- not the ones that are best for the patient.

The reason is simple. Right now, doctors determine which drugs work best for their patients. With the SafeRx Act, budget analysts and bureaucrats -- instructed to be "cost-effective" in determining which pills are worth buying -- will insert themselves into the doctor's office. The more drugs the government classifies as "wasteful," the more money it saves.