"For most patients, it isn't a problem, but for select patients it can be," said Laureen Cassidy, a spokeswoman for Abbott Laboratories. She said Abbott's promotion of the legislation was "limited," but it does back the measures and hopes that the debate surrounding them will increase awareness of the need to tailor treatment to individual patients.
The industry-backed legislation began appearing in scattered statehouses last year and is picking up steam this year. While some proposals apply to any kind of prescription drug, most take aim at particular classes of medicines, such as drugs to suppress a patient's immune system after a transplant, for example, or to curb epileptic seizures.
Opponents say the fight over generic epilepsy drugs, the most common subject of legislation, is typical of the drug industry's statehouse campaign.
"When you get down to the state level, folks are not versed in FDA matters so it's easy to confuse and fog the issues," said Kathleen D. Jaeger, president of the Generic Pharmaceutical Association, an industry group fighting the legislative push.
Three brand-name epilepsy drugs - Depakote made by Abbott, Lamictal by GlaxoSmithKline and Topamax by Ortho-McNeil-Janssen Pharmaceuticals - that earn more than $5 billion a year in sales are scheduled to lose patent protections this year, according to the 2007 annual reports of their manufacturers.
Bills that would restrict generic sales have come up for debate in 21 states this year, and Utah passed a law, according to the chain drugstores association.
Maryland's General Assembly considered two bills during the past session.
"I, for one, don't like generic anything. They say it's the same, but it's not the same," said Del. Barbara Robinson, a Baltimore Democrat who sponsored one of the Maryland proposals.
The Maryland Board of Pharmacy, a state agency, fought both measures, arguing that they would be needlessly difficult for pharmacists to implement. Brown, at the University of Tennessee, said that has been the case for many pharmacists in Tennessee, which passed a law last year ordering them to inform physicians before switching between generic and brand-name epilepsy drugs.
Nevertheless, Robinson said she will probably try again next year.
Del. Joseline Pena-Melnyk, a Democrat who represents Anne Arundel and Prince George's counties and wrote the other bill, did not return calls for comment.
