CITY HALL — The City Council is set to approve a measure that would require Chicago pharmaceutical representatives to be licensed in an effort to end what officials said is an epidemic of deaths from heroin and other opiates.
Mayor Rahm Emanuel touted the measure — which is opposed by the pharmaceutical industry — as the "toughest in the nation."
"The increase of opioid and heroin addiction has destroyed too many lives and too many families, and we know that there is a clear path from prescription opioids to the opioid and heroin epidemic we see today,” Emanuel said in a statement.
The measure would require pharmaceutical sales representatives to not only pay $750 annually for a license from the city but also undergo ethics training and disclose "their practice and products" to Chicago residents, Emanuel said.
The current law requires drug sales representatives to have only limited business licenses from the city, as officials require of most other Chicago businesses.
Washington, D.C., also requires drug sales representatives to carry a special license.
Representatives of pharmaceutical trade association told members of the Council during a budget hearing that they strongly object to the measure, calling it an “onerous” requirement that would do “very little” to stop the epidemic of opioid abuse.
In 2015, there were 403 opioid-related overdose deaths in Chicago, according to data from the Cook County Medical Examiner's Office provided by the mayor's office. Of those deaths, 285 were attributed to heroin, officials said.
"Evidence shows that addiction to prescription opioids is often a gateway to heroin addiction and law enforcement officials report the illegal heroin trade is a catalyst for other crime," according to a statement from the mayor's office.
If adopted, the measure would require licensed sales representatives to detail which doctors they have spoken to, which drugs they are selling and whether they provided any samples. In addition, the representatives have to disclose any gifts or payments offered.
That information will be available to the public on the city's data portal in an effort to help health care officials combat "opioid addiction and other health problems stemming from drug company marketing."
The measure is set to be approved Wednesday as part of the city's 2017 budget.
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