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CASRO and PMRG Weigh In Against Health Data Ruling
US research trade bodies CASRO and PMRG have given their support to health care MR specialists IMS Health, Inc. and Verispan LLC in their attempt to overturn a Court of Appeals ruling which would prevent them from using prescriber-identifiable data for marketing purposes.
The two associations have filed an Amicus or 'friend of the court' Brief in the U.S. Supreme Court Case between the firms and the State of New Hampshire, imploring Justices to note the proper distinction and value of pharmaceutical research. CASRO (The Council of American Survey Research Organizations) and PMRG (the Pharmaceutical Marketing Research Group, Inc.) stress the potentially devastating effect of the case on pharmaceutical research firms.
The two research firms announced they would take the case to the Supreme Court at the end of March. Two other states, Maine and Vermont, have passed laws similar to that in New Hampshire: in the former the law is currently declared unconstitutional by the District Court, while a decision on the latter is pending after its own District Court case.
The amicus brief states that banning the commercial use of prescriber-identifiable information would threaten legitimate MR firms, and that such data is 'essential to evaluate, improve and develop products and devices, [and] to evaluate trends and risks in the options for treatment and care of the general public.'
Based in Port Jefferson, NY, CASRO is on the web at www.casro.org while PMRG can be found at www.pmrg.org .
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