Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2004

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Consumer Protection and Commerce, to which was referred S.B. No. 2950, S.D. 1, entitled:

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this bill is to make affordable generic drugs more quickly available to consumers by making therapeutically equivalent generic drug products approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA), substitutable upon approval by the Director of Health.

Testimony in support of this measure was received from the Department of Health, Hawaii Pharmacists Association, Hawaii Medical Service Association, and Kaiser Permanente.

This bill is intended to enhance current law that allows the dispensing of therapeutically equivalent generic drugs by pharmacists. This measure clarifies that the definition of compendia of therapeutically equivalent generic drug products includes FDA-approved generic drug products with therapeutic evaluations. This means that the product has been approved for marketing by the FDA.

Your Committee finds that more rapid adoption of FDA-approved products would be one safe and effective way to help consumers struggling with the high cost of prescription drugs.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Consumer Protection and Commerce that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2950, S.D. 1, and recommends that it pass Third Reading.