New York State Assembly Office of Legislative Oversight and Analysis Generic Drug Investigation Files

Arranged by subject in no apparent order.

A New York State law took effect on April 1, 1978 allowing a consumer, with the consent of a physician, to substitute a less expensive generic drug for a brand name drug originally prescribed.

This drug substitution law (Laws of 1977, Chapter 776) came about after years of complaints by consumers about the high cost of brand name drugs and the desire to have the advantages of lower priced generic substitutions. The law was passed over the opposition of a highly organized pharmaceutical industry lobby. It is credited with saving millions of dollars for New Yorkers since 1978.

The Assembly Office of Legislative Oversight and Analysis gathered a tremendous amount of information on the drug industry, assisted Assembly committees with hearings, conducted surveys of drug pricing and drug company sales methods, compiled reports, and performed a wide variety of other tasks to assist the Assembly in preparing the legislation.

This series contains important documentation either gathered by or produced by the Assembly Office of Legislative Oversight and Analysis in its investigative work for the drug substitution law. The majority of the records are from 1977, when hearings were being conducted to determine if a generic drug law was necessary.

The series includes correspondence, memorandums, hearing testimony, conference proceedings, newspaper and journal article clippings, lists of drug prices, copies of legislation from other states, examples of drug company advertising, and various reports on the drug industry and on the safety and effectiveness of generic drugs. The evidence in the records was provided by an extremely broad range of individuals and groups involved in the manufacture, sale, and use of prescription drugs. These include physicians; pharmacists; pharmaceutical manufactures; medical organizations; local, state, and federal government officials; consumer groups; medical school faculty; and pharmaceutical laboratories.

Folder list is available at the repository.

There are no restrictions regarding access to or use of this material.