Students at Duke University, the University of North Carolina, and North Carolina State spent October 20th collecting petition signatures to protest legislation they say would increase the cost of generic drugs.
 
The proposed legislation in the health care reform bill would allow drug makers to keep patents on their pharmaceutical formulas for longer, preventing generic drugs from copying the formula and entering the market. Generic drugs provide cheap alternatives to expensive name-brand products.
 
The prices of conventional drugs fall an average of 40 to 80 percent after generic versions of drugs enter the market, according to studies done by the Congressional Budget Office.
 
Meredith Gilliam, a medical student at UNC, said the goal of the students was to educate people about the effects of the proposed legislation, not just get them to sign the petition.
 
“We are not trying to pressure people into signing our petition. We just want to inform people so that they can form their opinion,” she said.
 
Students at UNC believe pharmaceutical companies—who spend about $1.2 million a year on lobbying—will advocate for their personal interests rather than the interests of the consumer.
 
“It is a really important issue that might not affect us now, but 10 years down the road it will be huge,” said Eric Butter, a biostatistics major and organizer of the event.


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