U.S. prescription drug system/importing drugs

Writing for the November 26, 2003, edition of USA Today, Jim Drinkard reported that the White House may be receptive to importing drugs:

"With the Medicare prescription-drug bill on the brink of failure last weekend, Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson suggested enticing votes by offering to create a trial program to import cheaper drugs from abroad . . .

"The offer was a stark departure for Thompson. He has been the Bush administration's leading voice against re-importation, or the buying of drugs from Canada and other countries where prescriptions medicines sell for much less."

"Administration officials deny any shift in their policy, which maintains that re-importation is too dangerous to be legalized. But they acknowledged that a provision in the Medicare bill passed by the Senate on Tuesday could lead to opening foreign supplies."

In the same article, it was reported that "Illinois Republican Gov. Rod Blagojevich said Tuesday [November 25, 2003] that his state will boycott name-brand drugs made by manufacturers who are trying to thwart re-importation by limiting shipments to Canada. ... He said the state will review its preferred drug list and remove medicines made by AstraZeneca, Eli Lilly, GlaxoSmithKline, Pfizer and Wyeth if safe equivalents are available from other makers."[1]

Related SourceWatch Resources

• Health Care
• U.S. prescription drug system
• Pharmaceutical industry

External links

General Information

• Canada Drug Talk Facts, tips and news about importing prescription drugs from Canada.

Websites

• Portsmouth (NH) Drug Club web site.
• Senior Drug Importers, about.com.
• drugsavings.org.

Articles & Commentary

• Extension of Remarks of The Honorable John D. Dingell Regarding Importing Drugs Safely, House of Representatives, July 11, 2000.
• U.S. Senate backs importing drugs from Canada, CBCNews, July 18, 2002.
• Grace-Marie Turner, The Pill Pipeline: Re-importing drugs could open door to counterfeits, Tulsa Sunday World, September 15, 2002.
• Last night the House of Representatives approved a bill allowing Americans to purchase drugs imported from approved industrialized countries. Susan Dentzer reports on passage of the bill and its chances of being enacted into law, PBS' OnlineNewsHour, July 25, 2003.
• States eye importing drugs from Canada, Reuters, September 25, 2003.
• William Freckman, Re-importing drugs is no solution, HollandSentinel, November 12, 2003.