Los Angeles Times
October 14, 2004
At last week's debate, President Bush was asked why he had blocked imports of
inexpensive drugs from Canada. "I haven't yet," he responded, adding, "It may
very well be here in December you hear me say I think there's a safe way" to
import drugs. In the 2000 campaign, Bush was even more unequivocal. Drug
importation, he said, "makes sense."
First, "I haven't yet" amounts to
a bald lie. If his administration does not allow it, he's blocking it.
Second, why wait until December to change his policy? And if the idea still
"makes sense," why is his administration four years later trying to rub out any
organized importation?
The Food and Drug Administration has been
sending bullying letters to governors whose states try to establish safe ways
of importing drugs from established pharmacies. The most recent such letter,
sent to Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, called his state's newly launched
I-SaveRx program "illegal." If Bush actually believes that, let's see him put
Blagojevich in handcuffs and have the governor do the perp walk into federal
court.
Bush aides, meanwhile, are leaning on Senate Majority Leader
Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) to block a Senate vote on a bill by Sens. Olympia J.
Snowe (R-Maine) and Byron L. Dorgan (D-N.D.) that would lift the outrageous
restrictions that prevent U.S. consumers from buying drugs from abroad, where
prices are controlled and often 40% to 60% lower than in the United States.
Frist and FDA officials say the risks of such reshipping far outweigh
the benefits. But it's more than a stretch to argue that the medications Snowe
and Dorgan would let U.S. patients purchase — FDA-approved and shipped
back to the United States in their original packages — are somehow more
dangerous than medications such as vaccines, which frequently are manufactured
abroad and shipped straight to U.S. doctors' offices.
Pharmaceutical
concerns have long made a second argument against drug re-importation: It
would eviscerate the profit margins they need to produce new drugs. But
there's no reason why Americans should have to shoulder the burden so
disproportionately, especially because drug makers spend more on marketing and
lobbying than research and still make record profits.
Because the House
passed a similar bill last year by a surprisingly strong 243-186 vote, Senate
approval could compel legislators to send the Snowe-Dorgan bill to the
president's desk as early as December. Whether Bush wins or loses, that would
be an ideal way to find out if he meant what he said.
To Take
Action: Call Sen. Frist at (202) 224-3344.