AARP Members Hold ’Day of Action’

News Advisory:

-- AARP Members Hold ’Day of Action’

-- With Only 15 Days Left to Pass Rx Affordability Legislation AARP Members Converge on Capital to Make Voices Heard

AARP will its “Day of Action” at the Capitol tomorrow to push for the passage of prescription drug affordability legislation. AARP members from across the state will lobby their legislators, urging they support AARP’s Rx affordability legislative agenda and remind them they have only fifteen days left to pass the bills. AARP Rx bills include - S.1936 (Golden)/A.5405 (Gottfried) to give consumers easy access to pharmacy prescription drug price lists on the internet and S.696-A (Maziarz)/A.5574-A (Grannis) to require the Department of Health to collect information on how much money drug companies spend marketing prescription drugs to physicians.

Who: Over 500 AARP members from throughout New York State

New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer (11:30 am confirmed)

Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno (11:45 am confirmed)

Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver (12 noon confirmed)

When: Wednesday, May 25

11:15 AM -- Event Begins

11:30 AM -- Leaders begin to speak

12:30 AARP Members lobby their elected officials on Rx legislation

Where: The Egg, 4th Floor, Hart Lounge, Empire State Plaza

Why: From June 2003 to June 2004, prices among some of the most widely used drugs by older Americans rose by 7.6 percent - 3.5 times the rate of inflation. In 2003, the average price of a retail prescription in New York was $63.34, ten dollars more than the average U.S. cost of a retail prescription. Over 300,000 AARP members in New York pay the full retail price for their drugs. Prescription drugs should be prescribed based on science not the sales activities of drug representatives directed toward physicians, such as meals, gifts, and entertainment.

Contact Information

David Irwin

Media Contact

AARP

Contact via E-mail