Gannett story on HR 1885 parallel imports bill

[James Love <love@cptech.org>]

This is the first article that I have seen about the 
new US pharmaceutical drug parallel imports legislation.
(HR 1885) The big PhRMA companies seem to be arguing that:

1.  Parallel Imports are of unknown quality (even though
    manufactured by the same companies at FDA inspected
    plants)
2.  Lower prices elsewhere are due to foreign price
    controls or lower income, with an implicit suggestion
    that it isn't fair to permit parallel imports.
3.  US consumers should gladly pay a premium on the world
    price in order to finance R&D.

It would seem that as this legislation becomes better 
understood, it will spark a wider US debate.  Reps.
Sanders and Berry both offered pretty good arguments in 
favor of the bill.  Also, it is always fun to see the
big PhRMA companies raise fairness as an issue in the
pricing of pharmaceuticals.    

   Jamie Love <love@cptech.org>  

Cost of prescription drugs drives consumers to Canada
ERIN KELLY

05/21/1999
Gannett News Service
FINAL


WASHINGTON - When 74-year-old Ruthmary Jeffries of Fairfax needed to 
fill a prescription for the cancer fighting medication tamoxifen,she 
headed across the border to Canada.

The breast cancer survivor said the 15-mile trip cut the cost of her 
medication in half.

In the United States, the drug would cost her about $90 a month,
Jeffries said. In Canada, where the government controls the price of 
prescription drugs, she paid $40 to $50 for the same medication made
by the same American company.

Jeffries quickly snapped up six months worth of the medication. But 
Canada has now made it more difficult for Americans to fill their 
prescriptions there, and Jeffries has less than a month's supply of the 
drug  left.

"I can't afford to buy it in Vermont at such an inflated price," she 
said.

Calling it an outrage for Americans to pay more than anyone else in the 
world for American made drugs, Reps. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., Marion
Berry, D-Ark., and Jo Ann Emerson, R-Mo., introduced a bill Thursday 
that would allow pharmacists to re-import those drugs back into this 
country from Canada, Mexico, Europe and other nations at a cheaper rate.

Current U.S. law makes it illegal for pharmacists and drug distributors 
to re-import prescription medication. Private citizens are allowed to 
cross the border with small amounts for their own use.

"It is absurd that elderly Americans are forced to travel across the 
border in order to purchase the exact same prescription drugs
- often developed in this country on the taxpayer's dollar - at a
substantially lower price,"

Sanders said. "We hear a lot about free trade when it benefits big 
business. What about making this new global marketplace pay off for the 
average American and the senior citizens living on a fixed income?"

But U.S. drug makers said bringing drugs back into this country 
could pose safety hazards for American consumers, and their
opposition to the bill will make passing the legislation an uphill
battle.

The pharmaceutical industry is a powerful lobby on Capitol Hill, 
contributing more than $7.8 million to congressional campaigns in the 
1997-98 election cycle, according to the non-profit Center for
Responsive Politics. Drug makers say the real solution is to expand  
Medicare coverage to help seniors pay for costly prescription drugs.

"(This bill) would put patients at great risk by allowing potentially 
adulterated and misbranded drugs into the country," said Jackie
Cottrell, spokeswoman for the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers 
of America.

"Patients could not be assured medicines had been properly stored and 
transported. Moreover, it would allow medicines that have not received 
the approval of the Food and Drug Administration, which has the highest
standards for patient safety in the world, in U.S. medicine cabinets."

But Berry said the bill would allow only FDA-approved drugs to be
brought back into this country.

"We would not do anything to jeopardize the health and safety of the 
American  people," Berry said.

Drug makers say their drugs cost less in countries such as Canada,
France  and Italy because the governments in those nations impose price
controls. In Mexico, drug makers sell their products cheaper because 
Mexicans earn much less than Americans, said industry spokesman Jeff 
Trewhitt.

Slashing prices in the United States would make it impossible for drug 
companies to do adequate research and development to create needed new 
medication, Trewhitt said.

But Sanders and Berry said U.S. drug companies are taking advantage of 
their  monopoly here to swell their profits. The top 10 drug
manufacturers had an average increase in profits last year of 26.8 
percent - or $2.5 billion,  Sanders said.

Despite strong opposition from the drug industry, Sanders said he
believes Congress members can be swayed by the hundreds of letters they 
all receive from senior citizens complaining about the high cost of 
medication.

"I think there is a growing consciousness and concern," he said.



-- 
James Love, Director, Consumer Project on Technology
I can be reached at love@cptech.org, by telephone 202.387.8030,
by fax at 202.234.5176. CPT web page is http://www.cptech.org