Nevada governor vetoes price transparency bill

Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval (R) vetoed S.B. 265, a bill which would have forced manufacturers of certain diabetes drugs to notify the state's Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) in advance of planned price increases and make public information regarding their marketing practices. It would have required Nevada's DHHS to compile a list of prescription drugs "essential" for treating diabetes in Nevada, which would have been subject to the transparency provisions. Nevada Sen. Yvanna Cancela (D) sponsored the bill.

In his veto letter, Sandoval called aspects of the bill "laudable" but said it posed “serious risks of unintended and potentially detrimental consequences for Nevada’s consumer patients.” He said the bill’s requirement of public notice 90 days before a price increase for medicines such as insulin might create a “perverse incentive” to “manipulate supply in order to maximize profits.” Sandoval went on to write that the bill “inevitably” would have motivated “purchasers, wholesalers and secondary distributors” to restrict access to products and could have led to drug stockpiling, and could expand a "gray market" for prescription drugs...