MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Alabama State Rep. Mack Butler, R-Rainbow City, is pushing to prohibit all state and local government entities from promoting vaccines using public funds, arguing that tax dollars shouldn’t be used to the benefit of private pharmaceutical companies.
“Alabama taxpayers should not be forced to fund pharmaceutical advertising,” Butler told Alabama Daily News Monday in a statement. “For far too long, public dollars have been funneled into pharmaceutical marketing campaigns, handing over millions to promote corporate interests.”
Butler filed House Bill 367 in late February. It would authorize the attorney general to investigate alleged violations.
In cases of violations from a state agency, such as the Alabama Department of Public Health, the Alabama Legislature would be required to reduce the next year the violating entity’s budget by the same amount it had allocated toward advertising vaccines. In cases involving county health departments, the respective county commission would be required to reduce that department’s budget accordingly.
“I am committed to stopping this misuse of taxpayer funds; HB367 puts a stop to these wasteful and unethical handouts,” Butler said. “No taxpayer should be forced to subsidize big pharma’s marketing while these companies rake in billions in profit. This bill ensures that public money is used for the public good – not to boost corporate profits.”
The bill includes exemptions for printed educational materials distributed directly to patients in public health care settings, provided they include “balanced information about vaccines, including both risks and benefits.” Any other promotion of vaccines by a government entity, however, including the ongoing ADPH promotion of the measles vaccine amid the measles outbreak in several states, would be prohibited.
Dr. Scott Harris, who leads the ADPH as the state health officer, told ADN that while he was unable to comment directly on pending legislation, the health impacts of vaccinations, partially among children, could not be overstated.
“Nothing is more important to us than the health and safety of our children,” Harris told ADN Tuesday via a written message. “While we recognize that it can be difficult for parents to sort through confusing and sometimes conflicting information, routine childhood vaccinations are safe, have been around for decades, and can prevent many serious illnesses.”
The bill has already amassed some opposition, including from the Alabama Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics.
Linda Lee, executive director of the AAP Alabama chapter, said the association was against HB367 due to its potential to “be harmful for vaccine access for children in our state.”
Nola Ernest, AAP legislative chair, expanded on what she saw as the potential harm Butler’s bill could cause Alabamians, particularly the state’s most vulnerable residents such as infants or the elderly.
“In order to prevent vaccine outbreaks that could affect our most vulnerable populations, which include young infants that are often not old enough to receive certain vaccines, we need for all people to be vaccinated, and therefore, it is the responsibility of every taxpayer to make sure that people have information about vaccines so that we can prevent community wide outbreaks,” Ernest told ADN.
“What we need people to be able to know through advertising is when to get the vaccines, and what vaccines are available, and where. If this advertising isn’t done by the Alabama Department of Public Health or by the county agencies themselves, that leaves a void that would be then filled by pharmaceutical companies or by individual practices that do stand to financially gain potentially from vaccines.”
Ernest also said that, when promoting vaccines through advertising, the ADPH or county health departments don’t advertise specific vaccines.
“The advertising done by our Department of Public Health and by our county agencies is focused on the diseases that the vaccine prevents, and not on specific vaccine products, so there are several vaccine products by several different pharmaceutical companies,” she said.
Cases of measles in the United States last week jumped by 35% when compared to the previous week according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data, and have been identified in at least 12 states, with Texas being the hardest hit with a reported 198 cases as of last Friday.
The bill is assigned to the House Committee on State Government.