This is Catania's latest effort to contain skyrocketing pharmaceutical costs for District residents. His Access Rx bill, signed into law last year, requires the District to negotiate lower prices for medicines, creates a drug benefit for low-income seniors and the uninsured, and regulates the prescription drug industry.

"Access to affordable prescription drugs is one of the most pressing healthcare issues facing District residents," Catania said. "Big drug companies are pricing our residents out of the market for potentially lifesaving pharmaceuticals. As a result, this government has no choice but to step in and address the predatory practices of the pharmaceutical industry."

The Prescription Drug Compulsory Manufacture License Act of 2005 authorizes the Mayor to initialize eminent domain over the formulary of selected patented prescription drugs after declaring a public health emergency. Under Catania's legislation, the Mayor would be permitted to issue compulsory licensure with an FDA-approved drug manufacturer to produce certain pharmaceuticals at rates far below those currently offered. The District's authority to take such action is based on a 1999 U.S. Supreme Court decision granting states immunity from patent infringement in cases of legitimate public need [527 U.S. 627 (1999)].

Prices of the top 30 brand-name drugs increased by 22 percent over the past 3 years. Last year alone prescription costs increased four times the rate of inflation. Meanwhile, the drug industry continued to rake in massive profits, even as other companies experienced slowdowns. In 2002, 10 pharmaceutical giants amassed earnings higher than the rest of the 490 Fortune 500 companies combined.

Catania's legislation attempts to bring fairness to prescription drug pricing in the District. A recent report by the Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services found that prices for the same drug varied by as much as 4,000 percent among state funded programs across the country. Over the years, states have used a variety of methods to contain soaring drug costs including negotiated rebates, formularies, preferred drug lists, and prescription caps.

"These methods are simply Band-Aids designed to stop the hemorrhage of rising drug costs," Catania contends. "We can no longer negotiate our drug prices with both hands tied behind our back."

Pharmaceuticals are the fastest growing component of state health budgets. In 2002, U.S. spending on prescription drugs topped $162 billion. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) project expenditures for prescriptions under Medicaid to increase by 13 percent per year through 2011. Yet despite skyrocketing expenditures, approximately 58 to 60 million Americans, including 13 million elderly, lack access to prescription drug coverage.