IV 
112TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. RES. 343 
Expressing disapproval of the decision by the Supreme Court in Sorrell 
v. IMS Health Inc. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JULY 8, 2011 
Mr. MARKEY submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 
Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee 
on the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined by the 
Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within 
the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 
RESOLUTION 
Expressing disapproval of the decision by the Supreme Court 
in Sorrell v. IMS Health Inc. 
Whereas the majority opinion issued by the Supreme Court 
on June 23, 2011, in Sorrell v. IMS Health Inc., incor-
rectly applied a heightened First Amendment standard of 
review to a Vermont statute that lawfully regulated pure-
ly economic activity; 
Whereas the Vermont statute’s only negative impact on ex-
pression is on the ability of pharmaceutical companies 
and data-mining companies to develop their sales and 
marketing strategies, a concern which is far outweighed 
by the law’s intent to protect privacy, improve public 
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•HRES 343 IH 
health, lower healthcare costs, and prevent doctors from 
being unduly influenced in their prescribing habits; 
Whereas the Vermont statute restricted the sale of pre-
scriber-identifying information for marketing or drug 
promotion purposes when the prescribing physician had 
not consented to the sale of the information; 
Whereas the Vermont statute did not restrict the sale of pre-
scriber-identifying information for safety related pur-
poses, such as clinical trials and recalls, or health care 
research; 
Whereas data-mining drives up health care costs, as pharma-
ceutical companies develop targeted advertising that en-
courages doctors to prescribe more expensive brand name 
drugs over alternative options that would be equally ef-
fective and more moderately priced; 
Whereas the dissenting opinion in Sorrel stated that ‘‘The far 
stricter, specially ‘heightened’ First Amendment stand-
ards that the majority would apply to this instance of 
commercial regulation are out of place here.’’; 
Whereas the dissenting opinion in Sorrel stated that ‘‘The 
Court has also normally . . . taken account of the need 
in this area of law to defer significantly to legislative 
judgment . . . .’’; 
Whereas the dissenting opinion in Sorrel stated that ‘‘until 
today, this Court has never found that the First Amend-
ment prohibits the government from restricting the use 
of information gathered pursuant to a regulatory man-
date—whether the information rests in government files 
or has remained in the hands of the private firms that 
gathered it.’’; and 
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•HRES 343 IH 
Whereas the dissenting opinion in Sorrel stated that the Su-
preme Court has never ‘‘previously applied any form of 
‘heightened’ scrutiny in any even roughly similar case.’’: 
Now, therefore, be it 
Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 
(1) disapproves of the majority opinion in 
Sorrell v. IMS Health Inc., because it puts pre-
scribers at risk of having their prescriber-identifying 
information sold without their knowledge or consent; 
(2) believes that the Supreme Court incorrectly 
applied a ‘‘heightened’’ First Amendment standard 
of review to an instance of commercial regulation; 
(3) believes that the negative impact on a phar-
maceutical manufacturer’s ability to market their 
products is outweighed by the interests of patient 
safety, doctor privacy, and health care costs; and 
(4) believes that the States have the right to 
regulate the pharmaceutical industry based on what 
they believe is best for the health and safety of their 
residents. 
Æ 
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