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ORDINANCE
WHEREAS, the City of Chicago is a home rule unit of government pursuant to the 1970 Illinois Constitution, Article VII, Section 6(a); and
WHEREAS, pursuant to its home rule power, the City of Chicago may exercise any power and perform any function relating to its government and affairs including the power to regulate for the protection ofthe public health, safety, morals, and welfare; and
WHEREAS, soaring prescription drug prices continue to capture headlines and wallets nationally and locally; and
WHEREAS, retail prices for prescription drugs outpace every commonly used measure of inflation; and
WHEREAS, prices increased at eight times the rate of inflation for 30 prescription drugs analyzed by the Wall Street Journal, with an average price hike of 76% from 2010 to 2014; and
WHEREAS, the unpredictability of new, high cost drug launches and significant price increases for older drugs can strain the ability of state agencies, private payers and consumers to manage their budgets and access treatments; and
WHEREAS, the state of Nevada has enacted legislation to increase price transparency among pharmaceutical companies by requiring that they report on the production and marketing expenses of new drugs or drugs increasing in price; and
WHEREAS, in Illinois, the 2017 introduction of House Bill 0239, seeks to accomplish same; and
WHEREAS, local municipalities have joined the fight against pharmaceutical companies by involving the judicial branch in various lawsuits; and
WHEREAS, one example of municipal involvement is Rockford, Illinois who sued Mallinckrodt Ard, Inc. after a thorough analysis of their health plan showed that just one drug accounted for 2.5% of their total program budget; and
WHEREAS, Rockford discovered that Mallinckrodt Ard, Inc. had purchased the only competitor at ten times the selling price to, in effect, create a monopoly on the sale of Achtar, a drug used to treat infantile spasms; and
WHEREAS, Providence, Rhode Island sued the ...
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