STAND. COM. REP. NO. 529

                                   Honolulu, Hawaii
                                                     , 1999

                                   RE:  S.B. No. 1018
                                        S.D. 1




Honorable Norman Mizuguchi
President of the Senate
Twentieth State Legislature
Regular Session of 1999
State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committee on Health and Human Services, to which was
referred S.B. No. 1018 entitled: 

     "A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THE DRUG FORMULARY,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this administration measure is to allow the
Drug Product Selection Board (Board) to adopt as rules the
"Approved Drug Products with Therapeutic Equivalence
Evaluations", known as the Orange Book, as a state drug
formulary, including a Hawaii additions and deletions list.

     Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure
from the Department of Health (DOH), Hawaii Medical Services
Association, Pharmacy Association of Hawaii, Longs Drugs, and
Times Supermarkets.

     Under existing law, the Board is required to publish and
distribute a state generic drug formulary.  Only drugs listed in
the formulary may be used as substitutes for the prescription
drug.  The formulary is virtually a reprint of the U.S. Food and
Drug Administration's Orange Book which is revised every month to
add new generic drugs and to delete unsafe or ineffective drugs.
This measure would relieve the administrative burden on the Board
of revising, publishing, and distributing the formulary on a
timely basis.

     Your Committee has amended this measure to make technical,
nonsubstantive amendments for purposes of clarity and style.

 
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                                   STAND. COM. REP. NO. 529
                                   Page 2


     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your
Committee on Health and Human Services that is attached to this
report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose
of S.B. No. 1018, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass
Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 1018,
S.D. 1, and be placed on the calendar for Third Reading.

                                   Respectfully submitted on
                                   behalf of the members of the
                                   Committee on Health and Human
                                   Services,



                                   ______________________________
                                   SUZANNE CHUN OAKLAND, Chair

 
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