ROANOKE TIMES 

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, April 24, 1993                   TAG: 9304260348
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A-9   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

DRUG FIRMS CAN SHOW MORE CONCERN

SENIOR citizens and low-income families hold no sympathy for the concerns of Eli Lilly and Co., as expressed in its vice president's March 31 commentary entitled "Drug-price controls won't cure health-care ills."

While reasonable citizens can understand costs involved in research and are grateful to be able to secure prescription relief, they do not understand why life-saving drugs are costing a considerable amount of their monthly pensions. Some pensioners have actually done without their medications to buy food and pay other costs of living.

What is needed is a groundswell of public opinion to encourage costs reductions by local distributors to reduce their prices. In turn, the locals could demand price reductions or, at least, hold-the-line pledges by the drug corporations. Locally, Kroger has begun to lower its prices on some major prescriptions. It was a relief to note a sorely needed drug has recently been reduced from $84 to $72 monthly.

Prescriptions are not something that can be boycotted. There is an urgency to their purchase. There is also an urgency for some remedial action, whether voluntary or government inflicted. One way to reduce hospital costs is to provide preventive medicines. The Eli Lilly Corp. and other pharmaceutical groups can lead the way by reducing prices and showing more concern for hard-pressed customers and less concern for their profit margin. JAMES H. RADEMACHER ROANOKE 


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