E-drug: AP Story on US Parallel Import legislation (HR 1885)
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[copied from PHARM-POLICY with thanks]
Forwarded as a Fair Use. jamie
May 28, 1999
Lawmakers push for cheaper prescriptions
By LIBBY QUAID, Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) _ For 64-year-old Wendall Dowdy of Dexter, Mo.,
his income can't keep up with climbing prescription drugs costs.
After open-heart surgery a dozen years ago, Dowdy said, his
insurance premiums went through the roof. And his policies don't
cover such expenses as his recent blood-check and physical at his
Cape Girardeau, Mo., doctor's office, a visit that cost about $100,
he said.
``It's a shame a guy has to work all his life and then eats up
his savings for medication,'' said Dowdy, a retired maintenance
supervisor and church janitor. ``I know there have got to be a lot
of people like me out there.''
Those folks, lawmakers say, have inspired legislation aimed at
trimming prescription drug prices by changing laws that force
American consumers to pay more than do Canadians, Mexicans and
residents of other countries.
It's illegal for distributors or pharmacists to travel abroad
and return with lower-cost drugs; only pharmaceutical companies may
re-import such products originally made in the United States.
Supporters say the bill would allow pharmacies, wholesalers and
distributors to buy drugs at lower prices and then pass along the
savings.
The measure is the best idea thus far to lower costs without
illegally fixing prices, said Rep. Jo Ann Emerson, a Republican
sponsor of the bill whose district includes Dowdy's hometown. Other
sponsors include Democratic Rep. Marion Berry, D-Ark., and
Independent Rep. Bernie Sanders of Vermont.
``Missourians are landlocked,'' Emerson said. ``We just don't
have the same opportunities to cross into Canada or Mexico to
access more affordable prescription drugs.''
While it's illegal for Americans to do so, congressional
staffers said, U.S. Customs Service agents often allow travelers to
return to the United States with small amounts of prescription
drugs for personal use.
The pharmaceutical industry, however, says the idea raises a
host of safety concerns and fixes a symptom, not the problem.
Changing the law would allow into this country drugs that may have
been tampered with, mislabeled or improperly stored or transported.
``What is most needed to improve access to medicine is drug
coverage,'' said Jackie Cottrell, spokeswoman for the
Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America. The best way
to do that, she said, is by expanding drug coverage in a Medicare
system that relies on the private sector to generate competition
and choice.
The trade group also argues the bill would open the door to
medicines that are not yet approved by the Food and Drug
Administration.
But Emerson argues, ``there are plenty of safeguards actually
within the law today.''
In addition to logging hundreds of letters from constituents
about expensive prescriptions, Emerson said she has ample personal
experience, too: Her mother recently had a lung biopsy and can't
afford her prescriptions, either.
Luckily, she said, her insurance policy covered medication when
her late husband, longtime Rep. Bill Emerson, was undergoing
chemotherapy for lung cancer. He died in 1996.
Elderly folks from Berry's northeast Arkansas district, which
borders Missouri, have written him about high drug costs, too.
``I am writing to you to tell you that I am 67 years old and I
only get $348 Social Security a month and by the time I pay my
supplement insurance, I don't have enough to live on,'' wrote Mary
Ann Jones of Mountain View, Ark.
``My prescription bills run around $400 month and I have to work
to pay them.''
Berry, a licensed pharmacist, said: ``American medicine is not a
free-market situation. It's not like buying milk or bread or
gasoline. We don't have that kind of choice.''
The lawmakers provided data showing the average Medicare
beneficiary will spend $942 this year on prescription drugs. Senior
citizens receiving only Social Security get about $780 each month,
the lawmakers said.