[Pharm-policy] US Congress votes for limited parallel imports

[James Love]

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: [RxPolicy] Reuters on House Action
Date: Wed, 11 Jul 2001 17:01:06 -0700 (PDT)
From: Rx Update <rxupdate@yahoo.com>
To: RxPolicy@yahoogroups.com

http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20010711/pl/congress_health_imports_dc_3.html

Wednesday July 11 6:58 PM ET 

House Backs Limited Drug Import Plan
By Adam Entous

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Under pressure from consumers
to rein in sky-high prescription drug prices, the
House of Representatives voted on Wednesday to let
Americans import less expensive medicines from Europe
and elsewhere by mail order despite opposition from
the Bush administration.

But the Republican-led House soundly rejected a more
far-reaching proposal fiercely opposed by the
pharmaceutical industry that would have cleared the
way for pharmacists and wholesalers to buy U.S.
brand-name drugs in countries, like Canada, with lower
prices, and resell them at a discount in the United
States.

The House votes came one day after Health and Human
Services Secretary, Tommy Thompson, warned lawmakers
against opening U.S. borders to reimported
prescription drugs, saying it would ``sacrifice public
safety for uncertain and speculative cost savings.''
Opponents of the practice promised to step up the
fight as the debate shifts to the Democrat-led Senate.

Currently only manufacturers may reimport drugs.

U.S. consumers often pay 30 percent to 70 percent more
for prescription medicines than consumers in other
countries. Experts say that is partly because the
United States is the world's only major developed
nation without price controls on drugs.

For example, a 30-day supply of the popular allergy
medicine Claritin costs $63.06 in the United States,
versus $16.05 in European countries, according to
estimates by the Life Extension Network. A supply of
the antidepressant Prozac goes for $71.94 in the
United States, compared to $44.10 in Europe, the
advocacy group said.

To address this discrepancy, lawmakers proposed two
amendments to an agricultural spending bill that would
clear the way for the reimportation of Food and Drug
Administration-approved prescription drugs made in
FDA-approved facilities.

Both amendments drew fire from the White House, which
has thrown its support behind legislation that would
modernize Medicare and provide prescription drug
coverage to seniors. President Bush will outline his
principles on the issue on Thursday, including plans
to give older Americans pharmacy discount cards to
help them with drug costs.

``The availability of affordable prescription drugs is
a matter of critical importance to the administration
and the administration is committed to working on
solving this challenge,'' Bernard Schwetz, the FDA's
acting principal deputy commissioner said in a letter
to key lawmakers.

``However, the proposed amendments would do more harm
than good to the cause of ensuring that Americans have
access to quality pharmaceuticals,'' he added.

In a victory for Bush and the pharmaceutical industry,
the House voted 267-159 to reject reimportation by
pharmacists and wholesalers.

Supporters of the amendment, led by Rep. Bernie
Sanders, a Vermont independent, said it would help
bring down the high prices Americans pay for drugs.

Opponents countered that it would expose U.S.
consumers to dangerous, fake or adulterated medicines.
``If it passes, people will die,'' said Rep. Steve
Buyer, an Indiana Republican.

A similar measure was approved by Congress last year,
but then President Bill Clinton refused to implement
it, citing possible health risks. Thompson upheld that
decision on Tuesday, saying it would be
``short-sighted to compromise'' the nation's drug
approval and monitoring system.

Opponents warned of similar health risks when debate
turned to the more narrowly tailored proposal that
would allow individuals to import less expensive
prescription drugs from other countries by mail order
and other means.

Nevertheless, the amendment by Rep. Gil Gutknecht, a
Minnesota Republican, was approved 324-101.

Under the measure, which faces an uncertain future in
the Senate, Americans would be able to buy up to a
60-day supply of medicine for personal use. The drugs
could not be resold.

``The pharmaceutical industry went to war against
these amendments and they only had a split decision,''
Sanders told Reuters after the votes. ``For the
pharmaceutical industry, which always wins, that means
it was not a great day.''