[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.

[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.