Posted on 12/20/2009 1:17:34 PM PST by tobyhill
The pharmaceutical industry's powerful Washington lobbying group backs the healthcare reform legislation that is President Barack Obama's top legislative priority, but its important support for that effort could evaporate if drug imports are included.
White House adviser David Axelrod said the administration will pursue the issue, but not in the healthcare reform bill.
"Let me be clear. The president supports ... safe re-importation of drugs into this country," Axelrod told CNN's "State of the Union" program. "There's no reason why Americans should pay a premium for the pharmaceuticals that people in other countries pay less for."
The importation of drugs from other countries has been proposed for years as a way to lower prescription drug costs in the United States. The same prescription drugs sold in the United States often are sold at much lower prices in other countries, including Canada.
(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...
Who will be the last to figure out our dear reader is a LIAR?
It’ sure didn’t take the Hope-N-Haaagen attendees to find that out.
Oh my gosh....what a surprise. NOT!
Well... whatever.. I wish they WOULD allow re-importation.
The American people are subsidizing all these foreign countries who have bargaining power because they have socialized medicine. I wouldn’t want legislation to force equal pricing..that’s not the government’s business.
The market-oriented way to limit the differences they can charge here vs elsewhere is... allow re-importation.
I really don’t understand why the Republicans are against this.
Mr. niteowl77
It would seem relatively easy to circumvent large scale drug importation. Couldn’t the drug companies simply limit the supply to foreign wholesalers so they have no spare drugs for export?
The importation of drugs from other countries has been proposed for years as a way to lower prescription drug costs in the United States. The same prescription drugs sold in the United States often are sold at much lower prices in other countries, including Canada.
It's a huge load of crap.
The American pharmaceuticals are the main innovators in the world. They have to pay for R and D costs as well as jumping through expensive FDA hoops to get drugs approved.
The American prices should come down...but the rest of the world should pay the same amount.
I'm pretty sure an army of overpaid lawyers could hammer that out.
I bet the drug companies need the volume so when they sell at full price to the dumb Americans they can make the highest return.
It’s easy to circumvent drug laws, just look south.
The problem is knowing what the source is. They may not be real drugs you are buying ...
zero 2 big pharma 0
I believe the leverage the foreign governments are wielding is that they threaten to violate the patents the drug companies have on their brands and to allow for manufacture of generics in their own countries if “big pharma” doesn’t submit to preferential pricing.
I have a hard time believing that.. there are rules for international trading and patents.... MOST of these patents are valid in other countries to...
I'm just tired of the argument that ONLY Americans have to pay for all the R&D... Why? Let everyone pay the same price, or don't get the drug at all.
The two prerequisites for being a leftist: hypocrisy and shamelessness.
The two prerequisites for being a leftist: hypocrisy and shamelessness.
This guy would turn on his own father... if he knew who he was. The amazing thing is that people continue to see anything redeeming in this POS. Revolution can’t come soon enough for the US.
“Let me be clear...”
I am SO SICK OF THIS PHRASE!!
NO...what should happen is NO COUNTRY should be allowed to charge LESS (i.e. subsidize) for our drugs that WE researched, developed, marketed, sold, and dealt with, than WE do....
Well... that is the result I want to see... but, I'm not a fan of Government involvement in price setting...
For most products, like commodities... the world price stays pretty much in-line.. because, if it doesn't, traders take advantage by moving goods from region to region... I trust the market, if allowed to operate freely, to "keep it fair"... for us.
Of course....but there is NO “market” when countries (gov’ts) are subsidizing costs on something they import.
Everything is “outside the bill”. How anybody could trust this administration, I’ll never know.
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