House Ok's Plan to Import
Foreign Drugs.
The measure will let individuals order prescriptions from abroad without a prescription.*
        ©Los Angeles Times

WASHINGTON -- The House voted Wednesday to make it legal for Americans to purchase prescription drugs from foreign countries by mail order, a step that will lead to significant savings for older Americans who use the most prescriptions.
Thousands of Americans from California and Arizona now travel to Mexico, while residents of some northern border states, including Minnesota and Vermont, go to Canada for medicine.
Many drugs sold in the United States are far less expensive in foreign countries where governments  impose price restrictions.
The measure easily passed the House by a vote of 324-101. Republican Reps. Michael Bilirakis of Tarpon Springs and Ric Keller of Orlando were the only members of the Florida delegation to vote against the measure.
Passage of the House bill underscores the growing importance of prescription drug costs as a political issue.
President Bush will offer his proposals today for Medicare reform, highlighted by a call for Medicare's 35-million beneficiaries to participate in discount purchasing programs when they buy prescription drugs.
"The president is very troubled about the price of prescription drugs and the lack of access that senior citizens have to prescription drugs," Ari Fleischer, the White House press secretary, said Wednesday.
The White House hopes to create a clearinghouse that will enable seniors who do not have access to discount cards to enroll with companies -- called pharmacy benefit managers -- that buy prescription drugs on behalf of insurance companies and health plans.
Fleischer, at his daily White House briefing, said the president's discount-card proposal is "very important -- even before Medicare reform can be enacted -- to help senior citizens to get the best prices possible so that the cost of prescription drugs can be lowered."
The potential for even deeper savings for consumers could come from the House-approved measure allowing imports by mail.
Rep. Gil Gutknecht, R-Minn., sponsor of the measure, cited an example in which a constituent using a special ointment for a skin problem paid $130 for a tube in the United States but on a trip to Ireland bought the same medication for $46.
"The bottom line is if you are wealthy enough to travel to Europe twice a year, you can bring back all the drugs you need for the year," he said. "But if you are a senior living on a fixed income, you pay the full price.
Earlier, the House rejected an amendment by Rep. Bernard Sanders, I-Vt., that would have allowed companies -- distributors and marketers -- to import pharmaceuticals for sale to U.S. consumers. Sanders said he was pleased by the final approval of Gutknecht's measure, calling it a "solid victory" in the quest for lower pharmaceutical prices.
A second amendment, approved on a voice vote, would give the FDA $1-million to check patent claims by pharmaceutical companies trying to delay approval of generic versions of their drugs.
The drug re-importation amendment passed Wednesday applies only to individuals, allowing the freedom to order drugs.
- Information from the New York Times and Associated Press was included in this report.
"The House voted Wednesday to make it legal for Americans to purchase prescription drugs from foreign countries by mail order, a step that will lead to significant savings for older Americans who use the most prescriptions.

By ROBERT PEAR *
The Congressional Bills were unanimously passed by both the House and Senate this summer. The spirit of the bill was to somehow or other create opportunity for those who can not afford their prescription medications here in the USA an alternative, by giving them more facility to purchase foreign equivalents.  In an article released today by the New York Times News Service (see below). The Administration took special care to mention the proposed legislation is not meant to discourage personal import of meds in 90 day supply for consumers. And essentially announces to all those who may not know as much, that such facility exists. More importantly this acknowledgement by Congressional leaders of the need for such alternatives has now been squarely placed in public view, removing the stigma long associated with personal import of meds for medical need.
Quote: "Individuals can still buy drugs from abroad. Scores of consumers cross the border and buy medications in Canada or Mexico. Also, growing numbers of consumers buy drugs from foreign countries. Federal officials have expressed concerns about both types of purchases, but they say that they generally do not challenge consumers importing small quantities of prescription drugs for personal use."
Senator Byron L. Dorgan was an author of the drug-import plan.
 

The Associated Press *
WASHINGTON
At a presidential debate on Oct. 17, Mr. Bush said the drug-import program "makes sense" as a way to help people buy medicines at affordable prices. But advisers to Mr. Bush said today that he would also consider other ways to moderate spending on prescription drugs, which has grown rapidly in recent years.
The drug-import program was included in the annual spending bill for the Agriculture Department and the Food and Drug Administration. President Clinton supported a version of the drug-import program approved by the Senate on July 19 by a vote of 74 to 21. "I urge you to send me the Senate legislation," Mr. Clinton said in a letter to Congressional leaders in late September.
The bill was revised in negotiations between the House and the Senate. When Mr. Clinton signed it on Oct. 28. Under the law, drug makers could not block the sale or distribution of imported drugs in the United States. House Republican leaders, taking political heat over the high cost of prescription drugs, embraced the import scheme six weeks before Election Day. The purpose of the measure was to help Americans gain access to prescription drugs at the lower prices charged in foreign countries that regulate drug prices.
Senator Byron L. Dorgan, Democrat of North Dakota and an author of the legislation creating the drug- import program, has taken constituents to Canada to buy low-price prescription drugs. 
Representative Bernard Sanders, independent of Vermont, led efforts to allow more drug imports, saying they could reduce drug costs in the United States by 30 percent to 50 percent. 
Individuals can still buy drugs from abroad. Scores of consumers cross the border and buy medications in Canada or Mexico. Also, growing numbers of consumers buy drugs from foreign countries through the mail. Federal officials have expressed concerns about both types of purchases, but they say that they generally do not challenge consumers importing small quantities of prescription drugs for personal use.
Drug companies say they now have virtually complete control over the custody of prescription drugs, from the factory floor to the retail pharmacy.
In her letter, Dr. Shalala took a jab at Mr. Bush and Republicans in Congress.
Allowing drug imports, she said, can never be a substitute for providing drug benefits to the elderly as an integral part of Medicare, nor is the solution a prescription drug program run by the states to help people with low incomes.
Mr. Bush has proposed such a program, to provide "an immediate helping hand" to the elderly.

HOUSE VOTES TO PROTECT PERSONAL PRESCRIPTION MAIL ORDER
From Foreign Countries.*
What follows is part of an article published in 'The Washington Post'
"House Blocks Drug Import Curbs"
Amid growing public resentment of high prescription drug prices, the House voted overwhelmingly yesterday to prevent the government from discouraging the purchasing of drugs in Canada or other countries where the medicines are cheaper....The FDA sometimes sends warning letters to those caught doing it.
The [Food and Drug Admin] gives its employees discretion to permit import of drugs that violate its restrictions so long as they are intended for personal use.
The House approved 363 to 12, an amendment to an FDA appropriations bill that would prevent the agency from enforcing the importation ban.... A second amendment, approved 370 to 12, would bar the agency from sending warning letters."
When this is actually signed into law it may affect the way you do business as it effectively removes most import restrictions as long as the drugs are "intended for personal use."

Senate Approves Bill to Legalize Import Of Prescription Drugs From Foreign Countries.*
Senate OK's Prescription Imports:
By Janelle Carter
Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON –– The Senate agreed Wednesday to lift a ban on importing prescription drugs into the United States from foreign countries, responding to critics who have complained that Americans are being gouged by drug prices.
The measure, which passed 74-21, was attached to the agriculture spending bill currently being debated in the Senate. The debate centers on complaints that Americans are paying more for drugs available at a cheaper cost in some other countries.
"Why are we charged so much more for the identical drug?" said Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D. and one of the sponsors of the measure. "If someone else is paying half price or a third of the price than is being charged to the American consumer ... why can't the American consumer have access to those drugs in a global economy?"
Dorgan said the measure will "force the industry to re-price their drugs in this country."
The bill also would bar the FDA from discouraging Americans from buying prescription drugs in Canada and other foreign countries. Technically, it's illegal to import prescription drugs that were originally made in the United States, and the Food and Drug Administration sometimes sends warning letters to people caught doing it.
The House has already passed similar measures. One House provision would prohibit the Food and Drug Administration from enforcing import bans. The other House provision would allow Americans to legally bring prescription drugs across the border from Canada and Mexico.
The debate has drawn heavy opposition from the pharmaceutical industry, which has taken several full-page newspaper ads in recent days urging Americans to call Congress.

SANDERS ORGANIZES TRIP TO CANADA TO HELP SENIORS BUY PRESCRIPTION DRUGS:*
New study shows pharmaceutical industry cashing in on tax loopholes while fleecing American seniors
BURLINGTON, VT - Congressman Bernard Sanders (I-VT) today announced plans for a February 18th bus trip from Burlington to Montreal to help seniors purchase prescription drugs at affordable prices. Currently, U.S. law prohibits American pharmacists, wholesalers and distributors from purchasing prescription drugs in other countries such as Canada, where pharmaceutical prices are much more affordable. Sanders, who led a similar trip in July 1999, said he hopes the trip will illustrate the need for Congress to act on the bipartisan International Prescription Drug Parity Act that he co-authored and which is co-sponsored by 53 Members of Congress.
Sanders said, "There is no rational reason why the same exact drug, often manufactured by an American company in the United States, should be sold in Canada and other countries for a fraction of the price that it is sold here. Last year alone, while Americans paid the highest drug prices in the world, the 10 largest pharmaceutical companies in the U.S. reaped a 26% increase in their profits - an average of $2.5 billion each. At the same time, the pharmaceutical industry spent more than any other industry on lobbying and campaign contributions in order to protect their ability to fleece American consumers. We have now reached a crisis situation where seniors and the chronically ill can no longer afford their medications. Congress must act immediately to take on the pharmaceutical industry and protect the American consumer.
According to a new Congressional Research Service study, the pharmaceutical industry receives the largest tax breaks of any sector of the American economy. In 1996, for example, the industry was able to use various loopholes to avoid paying more than $3.8 billion. Since that time, the industry has averaged 17 percent profits, as compared to 5 percent for all other industries. At the same time the industry is benefiting from these tax loopholes, a GAO study requested by Sanders’ showed that pharmaceutical companies charge Americans the highest prices in the world for prescription drugs. According to the study, the average drug that sells for $1 in the United States would sell for 71 cents in Germany, 68 cents in Sweden, 64 cents in Canada and 51 cents in Italy. For Vermont, the study showed that seniors pay on average 81 percent more than Canadians for the 10 most widely used prescription drugs.
Sanders continued, "It is an absolute outrage that the taxpayers subsidize the pharmaceutical industry with egregious tax loopholes while the industry fleeces our seniors. My hope is that trips like this will show Congress that it is time to stop listening to the millions of dollars the pharmaceutical industry spends on campaign contributions and start listening to the millions of seniors who desperately need prescription drug relief. Though I am delighted that this trip will enable some Vermonters to obtain their medications at a fair price, this is clearly not the long-term answer to the prescription drug affordability crisis that Americans face. Our citizens should not have to go to another country to purchase affordable prescription drugs. They should be able to purchase their prescription drugs locally, at a fair price, under the supervision of their own pharmacists."
The trip from Burlington, Vermont to Montreal, Canada is being organized jointly by Sanders, the American Association of Retired People (AARP), the Champlain Valley Agency on Aging and the Champlain Senior Center. The trip will include a visit to a doctor to receive the prescription necessary to purchase the medications.

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