Research done by the business and economics
department at West
Liberty University
Professor Serkan Catma performed
the study on the projected costs for such a policy change. The study was funded
by the Consumer Healthcare Products Association, an arm of the pharmaceutical
industry heavily opposed to the legislation.
“There will be almost 79,000
additional doctor visits in West
Virginia West Virginia
Catma said his research takes into
account not only the cost of a doctor visit to obtain the prescription, but the
cost of missing days of work and lost productivity.
Catma said the figures account for
adjustments consumers will make in switching to alternative, over-the-counter
medicine. He said part of the figure also represents lost sales tax revenue to
the state.
Supporters of the prescription
policy say those figures are easily offset by savings realized by the state to
clean up meth labs and treat those addicted to the drugs. Catma said his
research didn’t explore those costs and he doesn’t believe there is enough data
to make an accurate prediction.
“We’re not here to pass judgment or
provide a policy prescription. We’re going to leave that up to the policy
makers,” Catma said. “We only wanted to contribute to the debate the figures of
how much it’s going to cost if the bill is passed.”
The prescription-only bill has been passed by the Senate and the
House of Delegates is expected to take up the measure soon.
