New Vermont Law Requires Pharmaceutical Marketers to Disclose Prices

As of March 1, 2005, pharmaceutical companies conducting certain marketing activities in Vermont are required to comply with Vermont’s new Pharmaceutical Marketer Price Disclosure Law, 33 V.S.A. § 2005a. The new law requires "pharmaceutical marketers" who engage in prescription drug marketing targeted at authorized Vermont prescribers to disclose the Average Wholesale Price ("AWP") of the drugs being marketed, as well as the AWPs for drugs in the same therapeutic class. The statute was intended to encourage price competition and force pharmaceutical companies to disclose prices to the public. As with most state disclosure laws targeting the pharmaceutical industry, the underlying goal is to increase the transparency with which companies market and sell their products.