Ann Arbor News Profiles Sen. Stabenow’s Prescription Drug Reimportation Bill
Booth News Service/Ann Arbor News reports on a bill (S 215) introduced in January by Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) that would allow U.S. citizens to purchase a 90-day supply of U.S.-manufactured and government-approved medications through foreign pharmacies. Currently, it is illegal for U.S. citizens to purchase medications in countries such as Mexico and Canada and then bring them back into the United States, Booth/Ann Arbor News reports. Last fall, Congress approved -- and President Clinton signed -- a similar bill, but HHS Secretary Donna Shalala "refused" to implement the bill, calling it "unworkable." Stabenow's bill would "mend ... flaws" in the original bill, for example addressing safety concerns by requiring the medications to keep their original, FDA-issued labels. Stabenow said, "The bottom line is that these efforts could save some consumers hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars in prescription drug costs. The fact remains that without new laws the American consumer is going to continue to be charged a much higher price for the exact same prescription drugs as consumers in other countries like Canada." But groups such as the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America oppose the bill. The group's spokesperson, Jeff Trewhitt, said, "When the American company exports, it generally exports to a third-party wholesaler in another country. You don't know whether or not those organizations have always transported and stored the medicine at the right temperature. If the medication has not been transported and stored in the correct way, it may lose its potency. It might not be safe" (Kellogg, Booth News Service/Ann Arbor News, 4/2).
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