Bush, FDA blasted for blocking prescription drug imports

Saturday » February 28 » 2004
White House, FDA blasted for blocking prescription drug imports from Canada
BETH GORHAM
Canadian Press
Tuesday, February 24, 2004

WASHINGTON (CP) - U.S. regulators should support imports of cheaper prescription medicines from Canada and investigate attempts by the drug industry to limit supplies north of the border, a Capitol Hill summit on the issue was told Tuesday.

Purported safety concerns are no excuse for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's refusal to participate in state pilot projects to buy drugs in Canada for their workers and retirees, a number of governors and federal legislators said, adding that Canadian pharmacies can be inspected.

"The American consumer is being cheated and the FDA is driving the getaway car," North Dakota Senator Byron Dorgan, a Democrat, told the summit.

"Why on Earth has there been a relentless campaign to defeat what we're trying to do?" asked Dorgan, who is proposing a two-year project to have licensed state pharmacists buy from Canadian pharmacies.

Senator John McCain, an Arizona Republican, mocked FDA concerns about pills from that "Third World, poverty-stricken unregulated nation to our north."

McCain accused FDA Commissioner Mark McClellan of having done "a great disservice" to Americans by frightening them on the safety issue.

FDA officials and U.S. Health Secretary Tommy Thompson were invited to the forum to explain their opposition but did not show up.

Across town, an FDA representative did attend an event featuring opponents of drug imports in a sign of the divisive issue's election-year appeal.

It's estimated that about half of the cash-strapped U.S. states are pursuing some kind of plan to help people import drugs from abroad at savings of up to 80 per cent.

The FDA has threatened to sue and has launched state information campaigns warning of the dangers of imported medicines.

"If safety is the real issue here, we need to develop better programs for our consumers" to choose the best Canadian shops, said Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, who estimates he could save $90 million US a year by buying in Canada.

"I can't quite understand the FDA's concern. They don't work for the drug companies or the high-priced lobbyists. They work for (ordinary) people, just like we do."

Drugs aren't the only thing Americans are taking from Canada," said Senator Dick Durbin, an Illinois Democrat.

"We are importing political leadership. The government of Canada is standing up for its senior citizens . . . Our government is standing in the way."

Some states have tried to skirt legal issues by becoming information providers.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty has started a website that offers consumers links to order forms from two pharmacies in Calgary and Vancouver which have been inspected by the state.

Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle, who said his state will launch its own site Wednesday, demanded that Attorney General John Ashcroft launch an anti-trust investigation of drug companies that have cut supplies to Canadian companies that sell to Americans.

This month, several Canadian online pharmacists received registered letters from Pfizer Canada saying they will no longer be allowed to buy the company's products.

Other brand-name drug companies have tried to limit the ability of pharmacies to buy pills for export.

"It is beyond an outrage that these people are trying to do that, said Representative Bernie Saunders, an independent from Vermont. "We're going to work with our Canadian friends to make sure they can't.

"We are sick and tired of the American people being taken for fools. The pharmaceutical industry has bought off the White House."

A new U.S. Medicare drug bill signed last December allows drug imports, but only if Thompson specifically approves it and that's something he's refused to do.

While import supporters say the safety issue has been exaggerated to protect fat profits of big drug companies, FDA officials say there's no way to protect Americans from drugs that could be contaminated, fake or originate in a developing country with lax regulations.

Canadians are not without their own concerns. Some are worried about supply problems and rising drug prices, and complain that high-salaried Internet jobs are depriving rural areas of pharmacists.

Lothar Dueck, president of the Coalition for Manitoba Pharmacy, said new drugs like lanteus insulin, a breakthrough in diabetes treatment, aren't being launched in Canada.

And Bayer has increased its Canadian prices by eight per cent since last August, said Dueck, who spoke at the anti-import session.

"It's not coincidental. We haven't seen drug prices rise in eight or 10 years."

The FDA turned a blind eye when Americans started crossing the border to buy drugs for personal use. But it accelerated an anti-import campaign as trade expanded to $700 million US a year and more state and local governments talked openly of saving money with bulk-buying plans.

Last July, Springfield, Mass., became the first U.S. city to offer a voluntary program for employees and retirees, saving an estimated $9 million US a year. Montgomery, Ala., has since followed.