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Conaway, Vainieri Huttle & Sumter Bill to Help Patients with Off-Label Prescription Drug Costs Clears Assembly Panel

Legislation sponsored by Assembly Democrats Herb Conaway Jr., Valerie Vainieri Huttle and Shavonda Sumter that would require certain health insurance carriers to cover off-label uses of prescription drugs was released Thursday by an Assembly panel.

The bill (A-1932) requires the State Health Benefits Program, the School Employees’ Health Benefits Program and health benefits plans offered in the individual and small employer markets that cover Food and Drug Administration-approved drugs to provide coverage for off-label uses, or medically-appropriate uses that deviate from the original intent designated by the FDA.

“This bill will help extend the medical benefits of prescription drugs to individuals – in particular those suffering from a terminal or chronically debilitating illness – who may not otherwise be able to access these medications because their insurance won’t cover it,” said Conaway (D-Burlington).

“Medications can be quite expensive, especially when they must be taken routinely to treat a debilitating disease,” said Vainieri Huttle (D-Bergen). “If these drugs are proven to be effective in the treatment of a particular illness and deemed safe by a medical professional, then I don’t see why they should not be covered by insurance.”

“This legislation removes a barrier to wellness and will enable medical professionals to do what is best for their patients,” said Sumter (D-Bergen/Passaic). “The health of our residents should always come first.”

When prescribed by a medical professional, off-label use of an FDA-approved drug is legal, provided the specific treatment for which it has been prescribed has been universally acknowledged by professionals within the pharmaceutical community or recommended by a clinical study or review article in a major peer-reviewed professional journal.

The FDA is responsible for ensuring that a treatment is safe and effective for its designated use but does not regulate the practice of medicine. As such, provided a drug is FDA-approved, a licensed physician can prescribe it to a patient for any purpose he or she considers medically appropriate. For example, doctors may prescribe the drug citalopram, an FDA-approved anti-depressant, to treat Alzheimer’s disease, a use that deviates from the original intent of the drug. Under current law, however, insurance companies are not required to cover such use.

The bill was released by the Assembly Health and Senior Services Committee and referred to the Assembly Appropriations Committee for further review.