More in Congress Back Canada Drug Imports

WASHINGTON - Support for legalizing lower-cost prescription drugs from Canada is growing in Congress amid an election-year clamor from states, lawmakers and the elderly.

The White House and Republican congressional leaders remain opposed, saying there is no way to ensure safety. Nonetheless, proponents contend that public frustration with rising drug prices and growing defiance of a federal ban on prescription imports will force action before the November elections.

The latest legislation to allow Americans to fill their prescriptions in Canada was introduced Wednesday by a diverse group of Republican and Democratic senators. It would eventually allow drugs to be imported from 20 industrialized countries, mainly Europe.

Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, one of its sponsors, said the bill "is a recognition of reality" that also assures safety by limiting imports to drugs approved by the Food and Drug Administration (news - web sites) and manufactured at FDA-inspected plants. It also would increase the FDA's budget to do inspections.

Several cities and states facing budget crises already have turned to Canada to buy prescription drugs for workers or made it easier for residents to hook up with Canadian Internet pharmacies.

Nearly two-thirds of those surveyed in a recent AP poll said the government should make it easier to buy cheaper drugs from Canada or other countries.

The issue has become irresistible to many politicians in an election year because it is easy for the public to understand, said Robert Blendon, an analyst of public opinion on health care. "It shows that politicians are trying to do something to lower costs right away," said Blendon, a Harvard professor of health policy.

Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., illustrated that point at a Capitol news conference to talk about the new legislation. Dorgan displayed two bottles of the best-selling cholesterol medicine Lipitor (news - web sites), one for sale in Canada, the other in the United States.

A single tablet of Lipitor sells for $1.01 in Canada, but is $1.81 in the United States, Dorgan said. "We pay the highest prices in the world for prescription drugs, by far," he said. The legislation "would put downward pressure on prescription drug prices."

The pharmaceutical industry has staunchly opposed efforts to legalize imported pharmaceuticals. A coalition of health care groups with ties to the industry criticized the legislation, saying it would lead to a rise in counterfeit drugs in this country.

White House spokesman Trent Duffy said the administration is awaiting a report on drug imports prepared by a government task force — a requirement of last year's Medicare law. Duffy said greater use of generic drugs and Medicare prescription drug benefits in the new law will help control drug costs for older and disabled Americans.

Spokesmen for Senator Majority Leader Bill Frist and Speaker J. Dennis Hastert said the Republican leaders are uneasy about the safety of imported drugs. Frist, however, has asked Sen. Judd Gregg, chairman of the Senate health committee, to study the issue. Gregg, R-N.H., plans to introduce his own bill and hold hearings on the topic early next month.

A Senate Republican leadership aide said put the chances of a bill passing the Senate at 50-50. He said it was less likely that a bill would become law.

Republican pollster Whit Ayres said support for drug imports is strong, but nothing like the outcry for the Medicare prescription drug program that was enacted last year. "This doesn't have anywhere near the broad appeal," Ayres said.

Blendon, the public opinion analyst, said that changing the law to permit imports would do little to address prescription drug prices. "There's no question that if they pass it, we're going to be back next year with the question of rising costs," he said.

Somebody please explain to me the nature of the Canadian deal that was struck with Pharmaceutical firms. I understand that they agreed to sell at prices established on a negotiated schedule. But what is it that keeps the companies from limiting the supply to a healthy estimate of what Canadian consumption could be? I mean - what's the population ~30 million? If 60 million annual dosages of Lipitor are being shipped to Canada - the manufacturer has to know it's just a conduit. Why can't they just ration the amount sent to Canadian pharmacies to say 110% of a reasonable estimate of the number of prescriptions?

It's obvious that revenue maximizing strategy would lead a firm to capitulate to the Canadian price schedule. But it's also obvious that the ROI required to sustain sufficient investment will not be attainable if everyone in the US were to buy transshipped drugs from Canada. Every time I see another agitated idiot like Sen. Dorgan advocate more transshipment, in defiance of what anyone with an Econ 101 understanding of the industry knows - I want to scream. That aside - why can't the pharmaceutical firms track and forecast demand and tighten up the "surplus" which is being sent back in to the US as "grey market" in effect?

Any Freepers in the drug industry understand this?

I'm pretty confused about this. As I understand it American drug manufacturers sell their drugs cheaper in Canada than in the US. The same drug. Wouldnt it be a lot easier just to stop allowing drug companies to rip off US citizens and make them sell their drugs at the same price for everybody?

Why should US citizens be subsidising Canada's pharmacy's.

I know the drug companies have a strong lobby.

Shouldn't the ultimate goal be to get Canada to drop their socialist price controls? I see no reason for the FDA to help Canada to get subsidized by Americans.

I've read that it takes drug companies about $10,000,000 woth of R&D and testing before a drug can be introduced to the market.

Drug costs are high, but implimentation of this on a grand scale will only hurt the US drug companies.

IFAIK the USA has the highest medical drug standards in the world. To open the market to imports that don't meet that standard is trouble waiting to happen.

Wally you're being ripped off by the Drug Industry just like we are in Canada. It's just that US consumers are getting hit harder because the US market is large and rich.

Some useful facts about Canadian Health Care

We get no special deal in Canada. The Canadian Government doesn't buy drugs. Healthcare is managed by the Provincial Governments. Private Pharmacies charge prescription costs to the government and are reimburced. Yes the pharmacies make a profit.

The Federal Government contributes less than 20% towards provincial healthcare. Only people with limited incomes have access to drugs free of charge and then only if they are on Social Assistance. Even if you are on Social Assistance you do not have access to newly developed drugs if there is an available equivelant generic. If there is no available generic you the government will not underwrite the cost of a new drug unless your illness is life threatening.

The reason for this is that the drug companies in Canada lobbied for a 10 year patent holiday in order to protect industry R&D programs and ensure a profit window for the Mercks and the Bayers.

In other words Canadians don't get a special discount and the Canadian Government can't and doesn't enforce price controls. Canadian drugs aren't cheaper. Rather, US drug companies use the private enterprise system in the US to disguise the fact that the drug industry is and International Monopoly that has the power to gouge it's customers.

This is so stupid, it boggles the mind.

OF COURSE drug companies are not going to sell Canada drugs for 280 million people at Canadian prices, so that they can be reimported.

AND, OF COURSE if the drugs had to be developed and produced for the American market at Canadian prices, they would not exist in the first place.

Are IQs dropping that fast?

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