Dr. Jerry Reeves, director of the Health Services Purchasing Coalition, said the group was formed to focus on health issues such as high hospital charges and escalating pharmaceutical costs facing employers, especially self-insured ones.

The group launched a Las Vegas Valley campaign called "Just Say Generic" on June 14 that educates people about the potential benefits and cost savings of generic drugs. The coalition represents about 320,000 people who work for or are members of hotel-casinos, construction companies, schools, fire departments, police departments and unions.

"They're not senior managers," Reeves said. "Their discretionary income is limited. We are trying to remove as many barriers as we can to filling prescriptions."

Generic drugs can save employers and patients between $50 and $60 per prescription, Reeves said.

"Employees win by (gaining) better health at lower costs," he said. "Generic drugs cost less for the part the employer pays, and they're getting healthier and more productive employees because people aren't missing as much work."

MGM MIRAGE is one of the coalition members that is encouraging the use of generic drugs.

Cynthia Kaiser Murphey, senior vice president of human resources for MGM MIRAGE, said generic drugs are a "win-win for everybody."

"The employee saves. The family saves. The health plan saves," she said.

The Food and Drug Administration reports that about 90 percent of the FDA-approved prescription drugs available in the United States have a generic version or therapeutic equivalent.

The FDA classifies a generic drug as an alternative drug to a brand-name drug that has the same dose, strength, ingredients, safety, performance and intended use.

Another alternative to brand-name drugs are therapeutic-equivalent drugs, which treat the same condition as brand-name drugs, but do so using different ingredients and doses.

Reeves said the public campaign is about more than costs. It's about correcting "severe misunderstandings," he said.

For example, during some initial focus groups the coalition learned that employees thought they needed to take twice as much of a drug if it was generic, Reeves said.

"They're not weaker," he said. "They're the same active ingredients at the same quantity. These are safe, effective and FDA-approved. They're just less expensive."

The reason generic drugs are less expensive is because prices for brand-name drugs must cover research and development costs and marketing to make a profit during their patent life, Reeves said.

The Health Services Purchasing Coalition is not limiting its message to patients. Coalition members are meeting with Las Vegas Valley physicians to teach them about the generic drugs that could be used in place of brand name drugs since they tend to rely on 10 to 20 frequently used drugs, Reeves said.

Neurosciences institute

HCA Inc.'s Sunrise Hospital announced July 14 that it is launching a neurosciences institute to focus on treatment of brain tumors, strokes, head injuries, spinal disorders, Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, birth defects, trauma, chronic back pain and epilepsy.

"A lot of this can already be done in Las Vegas, but you have to travel to two or three different sites," said Dr. Benjamin Venger, neurosurgeon and member of the institute. "We don't have to wait for a building or recruit doctors."

Sunrise Hospital is not the only hospital to offer neurological and neurosurgical treatment in Las Vegas, but it is the first one to classify itself as a formal institute. Clark County-owned University Medical Center was recently named by U.S. News and World Report as one of the 50 best hospitals for neurology and neurosurgery treatments, and many of the physicians who work for UMC will also work for Sunrise's institute.

Dr. John Anson, a neurologist and member of the institute, estimates there are between 30 and 50 neurosciences centers across the nation.

Although much of the medical equipment already exists at Sunrise, a new surgical microscope and intra-operative Magnetic Resonance Imaging scanner will be added, Anson said.

Michelle Swafford covers health care and small business for In Business Las Vegas and its sister publication, the Las Vegas Sun. She can be reached at by e-mail at swafford@lasvegassun.com or at (702) 259-2326.