Sen. Daschle throws support behind Maine’s Rx program

WASHINGTON – Praising Maine’s prescription drug program, Senate Leader Tom Daschle said he plans to pressure the U.S. Solicitor General’s Office to finish its work so the U.S. Supreme Court can move forward on a pending case that prevents the state from putting it into action.

As the most powerful Democrat in Congress, the South Dakota Democrat announced Thursday that he would write a letter to Solicitor General Theodore Olson within a week’s time, urging that his office complete a report on the Bush administration’s position.

The Supreme Court first referred the matter to Olson’s office six months ago after the pharmaceutical industry filed a challenge against the Maine Rx program.

Daschle made his comments after a Capitol Hill meeting with the Maine Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate, Chellie Pingree, and two senior citizens visiting from Maine, Paulette Beaudoin of Biddeford and John Moran of Readfield.

Pingree authored the Maine Rx legislation as senate majority leader in Maine’s Legislature. The measure became law after the Legislature overwhelmingly approved it two years ago. The program would allow Maine to negotiate with pharmaceutical firms on wholesale prices so that it can bring down prices on expensive prescription drugs used by seniors.

Daschle said he is anxious for the Supreme Court case to move ahead, not only because Maine has been prevented from implementing the program, but also because dozens of other states around the country have been considering plans based on Pingree’s model.

“I want to urge the administration to move forward and allow the Supreme Court to get on with the case so that seniors in Maine and other states are not left in limbo,” he said. “Every day we wait, seniors pay more and more money for prescription drugs.”

Both Beaudoin and Moran also personally delivered appeals to the Solicitor General’s Office, urging Olson to deliver his opinion to the court.

Olson, a prominent conservative who represented President Bush before the Supreme Court during the contested 2000 election, is deliberately delaying his report, said Moran.

“I’m sure it’s for political reasons,” said Moran, who is president of the Maine Council of Senior Citizens. “This is just being stalled until after the next election.”

Olson’s office offered no comment on the matter after several requests.

The Supreme Court has asked for an opinion from the solicitor general before deciding whether to hear the case.

The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers Association claims that the Maine Rx program is unconstitutional because it would force manufacturers to negotiate prices below the retail price and would regulate transactions outside Maine’s borders in conflict with federal law.