Balm for Drug Buyers

Few types of consumers have had to put up with as many shopping headaches as those who buy the $7.5 billion worth of prescription drugs now being sold annually in the U.S. Prices in the same community may vary by as much as 1,000% from one drugstore to the next. But since 29 states have statutes or regulations restricting pharmacists from advertising prescription-drug prices, about the only recourse the thrift-conscious purchaser had was to trudge from store to store.

A remedy was prescribed last week in a 7-1 landmark decision by the Supreme Court that lifted blanket bans on advertising prescription-drug prices. As part of its ruling, the court also made clear for the first time that the free flow of commercial information is generally protected by the First Amendment so long as the information is truthful and legitimate. Wrote Justice Harry Blackmun for the majority: "Advertising, however tasteless and excessive it may seem, is nonetheless dissemination of information."

The court's ruling upheld a lower-court decision against the Virginia State Board of Pharmacy, and was aimed specifically at a state statute that declares it "unprofessional conduct" for a pharmacist to advertise the prices of prescription drugs. That statute, claimed a Virginia consumer group, violated the consumers' right to receive information on the price of drugs.

Little Difference. Although Blackmun specifically declined to consider the decision's effect on other professions, the logic of the court's decision offers hope to consumer groups that have long been attacking the advertising bans in the legal and medical professions. Indeed, the sole dissenter from the decision, William Rehnquist, saw little difference between the public's right to know in advance the prices of drugs--and thus be able to shop for them--and its right to know the prices of legal, medical or other professional services for which standardized fees are charged.

Those who will gain the most by the court's decision are the sick and the aged, who spend large amounts of money on prescription drugs but are least able to shop actively for them. For consumers in general, the advertising of drug prices could represent a saving of as much as $380 million a year, according to one survey. A revealing statistic: drug prices in states that permit advertising average 5.2% lower than prices in states that do not. One big question that remains is how much advertising there actually will be. Even in states where such advertising has been allowed, professional codes of ethics and other restraints have discouraged pharmacists from publicizing their prices. It will now be up to consumers to demand what the court has ruled is rightfully theirs.

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