Drug Importation in Obama's Blueprint

http://www.propertyrightsalliance.org/index.php?content=obamaimpor ^

[nateriver]

Inferior toys, contaminated food supply and now our Pharmaceuticals are at risk. Included in the budget is a provision that would allow the importation of foreign, non-patented, non-FDA approved pharmaceutical drugs. It also has a provision that "supports” not mandates the FDA's new efforts on importing drugs. Imported drugs also create an artificial price control that hinders the drug companies from trying to recoup the research and development costs, leading to few new and quickly approve drugs.

[A. Morgan]

OMG... there’s limit to the One’s stupidity!

[A. Morgan]

Welcome to Tyranny!

[Carley]

Import contminated baby milk, toothpaste, tainted toys, poisoned pet food, and now he wants to import pharmaceuticals too.

[John Valentine]

Frankly, I’m gratified that he has at least this right.

And quite aside from your seeming aversion to taking personal responsibility, there isn’t any part of this legislation legalizing or even endorsing contaminated food, poisoned milk, tainted toys or terrible toothpaste. Take a deep breath and realize that Government should not be there to restrict your choices.

[John Valentine]

Oh, and “he” won’t be importing any pharaceuticals.

“You” will be. If you want them and the price is attractive.

[a fool in paradise]

If you legalize all drugs (with the intent of “taxing the hell out of them”), you open the door to counterfit prescription drugs.

Or will recreational drugs not require a prescription but Allegra and Viagra will?

[a fool in paradise]

Some insurance companies “encourage” you to buy shoddy generics by offing a cheap co-pay only on questionable product.

[SampleMan]

Say goodbye to the pharmaceutical industry and to new drugs.

Also say goodbye to affordable drugs for thirdworlders.

If a company spends $1 Billion in R&D, but the drug only costs 50 cents a pill to make, they will use structured marketing to recoup their costs and to make a profit, while at the same time making the drug accessible to as many people as possible. Thus, the pill may cost $10 in the US and $1 in Peru.

Now if you start importing the drug from Peru to the US it will negate their ability to do this and they will just make the drug the same price everywhere, which will be more than $10, and the poor Peruvians will just have to do without.

Socialists are morons.

[alloysteel]

“...now he wants to import pharmaceuticals too.”

The new thrust in health care, doncha know. Poison the old folks and the infirm with ineffectual or contaminated drugs, get them off the books. All in the name of “compassion”, and giving the people what they desserve.

Unless you take charge of your OWN health concerns, you are likely to die in the care of another, at an earlier age than you may have gone to your reward otherwise.

If you don’t watch out for yourself, who will?

[SampleMan]

See my post #9. You appear to be completely ignorant as to why drugs have different prices in different countries, and why allowing re-import won’t decrease the price at all in the long run, but will instead INCREASE IT.

[Mase]

Obama is right on this one? You need to spend a few minutes getting yourself educated on the re-importation of pharmaceuticals and, most importantly, the reasons why drugs are cheaper in other countries. You'd probably be surprised to learn that American pharma must sell their products to countries with price controls at much lower prices than they do here. If they don't sell to them at drastically reduced prices, those countries will not honor their patent protections. Does it bother you that countries like Canada agreed not to allow the re-importation of drugs back to the US and then reneged on their agreement? Did you know that countries with price controls do not produce new drugs? When you kill the profit motive where will innovation come from? Or, do you not care about that and only concern yourself with your immediate needs?

You also seem to believe that the FDA is there to ensure that all the drugs you re-import aren't fake, substandard, adulterated or falsely labeled. That fact highlights just how much you don't know about the topic. Approximately 10% of the world's drug supply is made up of counterfeits. The FDA says about 1% of the prescriptions filled here are counterfeit. The WHO estimates that number is more than 5%. Even if you take the more conservative FDA estimate, it means more than 40 million prescriptions are being filled with counterfeit drugs here each year. Since that % is dramatically higher in other countries, you can see the kinds of problems we'll face by allowing re-importation. Counterfeit drug rings are common now and are being run by some of the largest and most sophisticated criminal and terrorist organizations in the world.

Cheaper drugs from abroad may sound good on the surface but you're simply tripping over a dollar to pick up a dime while risking your health and the health of future generations. I'd expect that kind of shortsightedness from a Marxist like Obama but not from conservatives on FR.