Date Added: 2009-06-08 06:30:11

Jun. 5--Busy with other chores, Kathryn Pauley asked her 16-year-old to pick up younger daughter Cheyenne's seizure medicine at a pharmacy.

To her surprise, Pauley found a generic drug, not Lamictal, a brand-name drug that had effectively controlled most of Cheyenne's seizures. In the next week, Cheyenne, 11, had 21 seizures -- many more than usual.

The switch occurred even though Cheyenne's doctor had written "dispense as written," or DAW, on the prescription. Cheyenne's Medicaid policy refused to fill the prescription until her doctor challenged it, said Pauley of Belleville.

A fierce legislative campaign is playing out in Michigan and other states over generic substitution and therapeutic switching, a practice that allows health insurers to fill a prescription with drugs similar to brand-name drugs.

Usually, a doctor can stop a switch by writing DAW on a prescription. But problems still can occur and appeals are time-consuming.

James McCurtis, a spokesman for Michigan's Medicaid program, said the state prefers to use money-saving generics when possible. Doctors can apply through a process called prior authorization to get a brand-name drug for a patient, but McCurtis acknowledged that process may be time-consuming.

The Michigan Osteopathic Association and the Michigan Association of Family Physicians want changes to ensure consumers are alerted about prescription changes. Health plans and the Michigan Pharmacists Association see any new laws as unnecessary. Either way, there are important issues for consumers to understand.

Mich. fight over generics heats up

The push to use generic drugs has brought big savings to U.S. health care -- $734 billion over the last decade.

But as much as they support ways to hold down health costs, the 7,000-member Michigan Osteopathic Association and the 3,000-member Michigan Association of Family Physicians have some worries. They're concerned that the preference by many health plans toward generics and nearly-equivalent drugs called therapeutic substitutes leave too many patients and their doctors out of the decision-making about which drug they can prescribe or use.

They want state laws to ban payments and other incentives that health plans and pharmacy benefit management companies use to encourage doctors to prescribe generics and so-called therapeutic equivalents -- drugs like but not identical to brand-name drugs.

Another bill would require a patient's consent before a pharmacy could switch a brand-name epilepsy drug to another drug.

Popularity of generics

The issue is significant as more health plans promote generic drugs and Americans look for savings, particularly as they lose insurance or face higher out-of-pocket co-pays. Generic use has risen from 61% in 2006 to nearly 70% today, according to the Generic Pharmaceuticals Association, in a May report.

"Physicians feel they are being handcuffed more and more," said Dr. Craig Magnatta, president of the Michigan Osteopathic Association.

The osteopathic association has produced a printable, wallet-sized card on its Web site to help patients learn about the issue at www.michigando.com.

Every day, Magnatta, a family practice physician with offices in Rochester Hills and Oxford, and one of his assistants plow through a pile of paperwork with insurance company denials or questions about drugs he prescribed.

Many plans won't pay for many brand-name drugs, at least not initially. Health plans particularly make it difficult to prescribe certain drugs, such as epilepsy medicines, antidepressants, blood thinners, proton pump inhibitors, psychiatric, thyroid, pain and antirejection medicines, he said.

Two bills that address generic issues await action later this year by the Senate Health Policy Committee, which postponed a hearing in May. Committee chair, Sen. Thomas George, R-Kalamazoo, said the bills may be reworked.

Unnecessary action?

Michigan's health plans and the Michigan Pharmacists Association consider the legislation unnecessary.

Dr. Tom Simmer, senior vice president and chief medical officer of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, said generics have produced sizeable savings, including as much as $1,000 a year for consumers, at a time when many have no insurance or higher drug co-pays.

Nationwide, generics have saved consumers $734 billion over the last 10 years, according to a report issued in May by the Generic Pharmaceutical Association.

"We're saying, before you jump to the $120 a month antacid, try less costly ones," Simmer said.

As more drugs go generic, brand-name drug manufacturers are spending millions of dollars on direct-to-consumer advertising campaigns that inflate health costs by encouraging consumers to ask their doctors to prescribe brand-name drugs, Simmer said.

Antonio Petitta, vice president of pharmacy care management for the Health Alliance Plan, said he thinks the legislation will add red tape.

"It adds a layer of difficulty to prescribing," she said.

Trouble with epilepsy

Arlene Gorelick, executive director of the Michigan Epilepsy Foundation, which favors the bills, said her group and its national foundation are tracking increased incidence of seizures in people who have had to change to generics and therapeutic equivalents.

"Antiepileptic drugs are very precise and establish a delicate balance for each individual with epilepsy," Gorelick added. "No two medications are alike. Even slight changes can cause ... seizures."

Others point out that groups like the Epilepsy Foundation receive funding from brand-name drugs, a fact Gorelick acknowledges but said did not influence the organization's position on the issue.

"The Epilepsy Foundation of Michigan does receive unrestricted educational grants from pharmaceutical companies and device makers, as well as from hospitals and insurance companies," Gorelick said. "These dollars represent a small percentage of our operating budget."

Bringing down costs

Dr. Rick Smith, president of the Michigan State Medical Society, an 11,000-member physician's organization affiliated with the American Medical Association, said his organization has not taken a position on the bills.

Smith said electronic or E-prescribing systems make it easier to track which drugs health plans pay for or prefer to use first and cut out some of the red tape. He was an early user of generics and electronic medical systems in the Henry Ford Health System, where he's an obstetrician/gynecologist,

Generics are "one of the best ways to bring excessive costs down." But he agrees some drugs such as seizure medicines may not be easily substituted, as the therapeutic range of those and some other drugs is narrower, he said.

Contact PATRICIA ANSTETT: 313-222-5021 or panstett@freepress.com

Additional Facts

Drug legislation

Two bills in the Legislature, supported by two state physician organizations and some patient support groups, address generic substitution and therapeutic switching.

# SB 318 prohibits health plans from making payments or giving other incentives to doctors and other health professional to prescribe certain drugs. It also would require Michigan's attorney general to report quarterly on any payments or incentives that might be viewed as inducements to prescribe a certain drug.

# HB 4408 bans substitution of brand name epilepsy drugs without the consent of the doctor, patient or legal guardian.

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