PRESCRIPTION DRUGS—Maryland PIRG is working to make drugs more affordable, to make sure information on the safety of medication is made public, and to defend the rules governing the pharmaceutical industry.

Consumer Rights Legislation

Identity theft and automobile loans commanded healthy debates in the legislative session again this year. Bills to address these issues started off as positive reforms, but were amended and hampered by industry-friendly provisions. Maryland PIRG blocked the bad bills from passing.

An identity theft bill would have given credit rating agencies the decision on when consumers should be notified about security breaches. An auto loan bill would have weakened requirements on providing information to consumers.

Maryland PIRG will renew its efforts to pass bills that effectively crack down on unfair business practices and protect against the misuse of personal financial information. We will also participate in a legislative task force this summer to address identity theft.

Voting Machine Paper Trail Needed

The General Assembly failed to pass a bill to require printed records for voting machines again this year.

Maryland PIRG and members of the True Vote Maryland Coalition, citing problems with electronic voting machines in Maryland and across the country, called on the state to provide verifiable voting by requiring a paper trail of all votes cast.

“Every vote is important,” said Maryland PIRG Field Associate Chris Fick. “We need voting machines that can guarantee that every vote is counted.”

Maryland PIRG will advocate the bill’s passage in the next legislative session.

FDA Lets Drug Makers Off The Hook

In a sweeping change to long-standing policies, the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) new drug-labeling rules would give drug makers protection from lawsuits filed in state court.

The change comes despite the lesson of unsafe drugs like Vioxx, which find their way to the pharmacists’ shelves even after safety trials expose dangerous side effects. There have been 60,000 deaths from Vioxx-associated heart attacks.

According to FDA whistleblower Dr. David Graham, the “FDA is part of the problem.” The FDA’s new rule would shield drug makers from the only recourse for consumers by throwing out the claims of consumers even if the drug maker defied state law, or if the FDA review was proven inadequate.

Congress Weighs Future Of Internet

A new U.S. PIRG-backed media reform coalition is urging Congress not to give telephone and cable companies the power to control consumers’ use of the Internet.

“The Internet works because powerful monopolies can’t act as its gatekeepers,” said Maryland PIRG’s Consumer Program Director Ed Mierzwinski. “The cable and phone companies would like to charge consumers more to visit certain sites and slow down sites they don’t own or approve. What if they could slow down or block e-mail messages from campaigns or political candidates they oppose?”

PIRG staff and members are meeting with members of Congress in Washington, D.C., and across the country urging that proposed telecommunications reform by Rep. Barton (TX) preserve open access to the Internet.