Legislative Update for Week of June 7, 2004

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Legislative Update for Week of June 7, 2004

Prescription drugs are sold at such a high price in the United States, that many people go to Canada, or purchase them from Canada through the mail, in order to save money. This is illegal, but for people without insurance that covers medications, this “option” saves them a lot of money. The White House, which had stridently opposed it, has seemingly been softening its position on reimportation.

Drug reimportation has support from both Democrats and Republicans. Shortly before the Memorial Day recess, a number of Senators met with Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN) to push for passage of S. 2328, the Pharmaceutical Market Access and Drug Safety Act of 2004. Among those meeting with Senator Frist were Senators Byron Dorgan (D-ND), Olympia Snowe (R-ME), John McCain (R-AZ), Edward Kennedy (D-MA), and Debbie Stabenow (D-MI). Senate supporters of drug reimportation say they would have enough votes to pass the bill were it to come up for a vote on the floor. TREA-Senior Citizens League has actively supported S. 2328 as a way to cut medical costs for seniors. TSCL also supported H.R. 2427, a drug importation bill that was introduced in the House of Representatives last year and that was passed by an overwhelming vote of 243-186.

Whether or not any bill is brought up for a vote in the Senate depends largely on Sen. Bill Frist, who has been opposed to drug reimportation. The Senate Majority Leader voiced safety concerns about counterfeit drugs and where the imported drugs were being manufactured. Sen. Olympia Snowe has said that many of these safety concerns had been addressed at the meeting, to include rules that would allow U.S. inspections of the drugs at the border. Many drug manufacturers, such as Pfizer, maintain production plants around the world and the drugs they are selling in the U.S. are not necessarily manufactured here.

With so much support for prescription drug reimportation, the Senate is under pressure to address this issue. Sen. Judd Gregg (R-NH), Chairman of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, has announced that he will introduce his own version of a reimportation bill. This bill is expected to have more restrictions on it than S. 2328, and, possibly, be more acceptable to Sen. Frist and the White House. Restrictions include a longer implementation time, as well as FDA approval of manufacturing plants. Sen. Gregg’s bill would not include penalties against drug manufacturers if they were to limit supply or raise prices, something that S. 2328 would do.

Fully one-half of the Pharmaceutical industry’s profits come from drug sales inside the United States. Eager to maintain this profit margin, lobbyists for the pharmaceutical industry have spent millions of dollars on Capital Hill. The new Medicare Act forbids the U.S. government from negotiating drug prices with the pharmaceutical companies, thereby insuring those companies will continue to set their own prices on the U.S. market. TSCL will continue to support both a strong, safe reimportation bill, and allowing the negotiation of prices by the government with pharmaceutical companies.

Sources: “It’s Do or Die for Drug Bill,” Geoff Earle, The Hill, June 1, 2004

“Prescriptions and Profits,” Morley Safer, CBS 60 Minutes, March 14, 2004
“Senator Plans to Introduce Drug-Importation Measure,” Juliet Eilperin, Washington Post, and news services, June 2, 2004
“Gregg is the Latest Senator to Back Legal Reimportation of Prescription Drugs,” Mary Agnes Carey, CQ Today, June 2, 2004

June 2004