Opponents Of Drug Ballot Issue Launch Campaign
“Ohioans Against the Deceptive Rx Ballot Issue” Attracts Broad-based Coalition
Columbus, OH – Ohioans Against the Deceptive Rx Ballot Issue kicked off its campaign recently by announcing that a diverse and broad-based coalition of Ohio organizations and associations will oppose and seek to defeat the deceptively worded “Ohio Drug Price Relief Act.” The proposal (technically called an “initiated statute”) will be on the November 2017 ballot.
Authored and promoted by controversial California activist Michael Weinstein, the initiative would prohibit Ohio’s state government from paying more for prescription drugs than the lowest price paid by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Another provision would give the ballot issue’s four named co-sponsors an unprecedented right to intervene—at taxpayer expense—in any post-election legal challenges that may be filed against the initiative or its implementation.
A virtually identical version of this ballot issue, called “Proposition 61,” was soundly defeated in California last year (53%—47%), and was also opposed by every major newspaper in the state. Said Coalition Campaign Manager Curt Steiner: “While everyone agrees that Ohioans need access to affordable medicines, this deceptive and vaguely worded initiative won’t fix the problem or do what it promises. In fact, experts who have studied the proposal—including three former Ohio Medicaid Directors and a former state Budget Director—say it’s not only unworkable, but could actually increase prescription drug costs for the majority of Ohioans and reduce patient access to needed medications. The so-called Drug Price Relief Act is a Trojan Horse we can’t afford to let into our state.”
Added Campaign Communications Director Dale Butland: “That’s why more than 30 Ohio organizations and associations so far—representing doctors, nurses, patients, veterans, organized labor and the business community—have joined together to oppose this misguided ballot initiative. Starting today, we’ll be supplementing our voter education efforts with a robust paid media campaign that will run on broadcast and cable TV all across the state, as well as on mobile and digital platforms. We urge all Ohioans to get the facts at www.DeceptiveRxIssue.org. Once voters know the truth, we’re confident they will give this ballot issue the defeat it so richly deserves.”
Published in OhioMBE June 1, 2017
