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Groton Daily Independent
Thursday, Sept. 7, 2017 ~ Vol. 25 - No. 069 ~ 15 of 36
in rural areas without the service. ___
Information from: Sioux City Journal, http://www.siouxcityjournal.com
Initiative supporters seek to cap price state pays for drugs By JAMES NORD, Associated Press
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — Backers of a proposed ballot measure that would cap the amount state agen- cies could pay for prescription drugs hope to start building support soon to put the initiative before voters in 2018, a key proponent said Wednesday.
The plan is meant to save taxpayer dollars and drive down the cost of prescriptions, supporter Rick Weiland told The Associated Press. It would impose a price limit on state drug purchases at the lowest price paid for the same drug by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
“This is going to be a very interesting campaign with Big Pharma loaded to bear because they don’t want this to become a stepping stone to other state efforts to do the same thing,” said Weiland, a former Democratic U.S. Senate candidate who is involved in several initiative campaigns.
The plan — adapted from an Ohio initiative that’s on the ballot this year — has already attracted the pharmaceutical industry’s attention. South Dakota Biotech and Washington-based Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America last week led a court challenge to the state attorney general’s ballot ques- tion explanation.
The industry groups are asking a judge to direct Attorney General Marty Jackley to modify his explana- tion. The groups said in a statement that the explanation falls short because it doesn’t mention language giving supporters legal standing if the initiative is challenged in court.
Jackley said that his team works “very diligently” to ensure ballot question explanations are fair. A hear- ing is scheduled for Tuesday.
Weiland said the organizations missed the deadline in state law to le such a challenge, contending that the move is an attempt to tie up the initiative in court so supporters don’t have time to collect enough signatures to qualify for the ballot.
Backers must submit nearly 14,000 valid signatures to the secretary of state by November 2017 to get on the ballot in 2018. Weiland said the goal is to collect 20,000 names.
Measures have been placed on California and Ohio ballots to cap what those states pay for all prescrip- tion drugs at the lowest price the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs pays. California’s was voted down last year after the pharmaceutical industry spent more than $100 million to oppose it. Ohio’s measure will go before voters this November.
South Dakota initiative supporters have tapped Sioux Falls City Council candidate Clara Hart to serve as chairwoman of pro-initiative group South Dakotans for Lower Drug Prices.
Hart said that pharmaceutical companies need to “wake up and learn” that people are hurting. “They need to have a heart instead of money, money all the time,” she said.
Ex-teen bride wins $16 million case against polygamous group By LINDSAY WHITEHURST, Associated Press
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — A woman who was married to her cousin at age 14 in a ceremony overseen by polygamous sect leader Warren Jeffs has won a $16 million lawsuit against the group.
Elissa Wall’s lawyer said Wednesday that the decision lets attorneys investigate the secretive group’s bank accounts and property held in states all over the U.S.
“This is hopefully to continue the attack on illegal and criminal conduct so they’ll comport their doctrines to what’s permissible under the U.S. Constitution,” said Wall’s attorney Alan Mortensen.
In his ruling, Judge Keith Kelly said that he found the behavior of Jeffs and the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints “was so extreme that it went beyond all possible bound of decency and is regarded as atrocious and utterly intolerable in a civilized society.”