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"House OK's Easing Drug Import Rules"
By Philip Brasher
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) - Amid growing public resentment of high
prescription drug prices, the House voted overwhelmingly Monday to prevent the
government from discouraging the purchase of drugs in Canada or other countries.
An increasing number of Americans have been going to Canada,
Mexico and other countries to purchase prescription drugs cheaper than what they
cost in the United States.
Technically, it's illegal to import prescription drugs that
were originally made in the United States, and the Food and Drug Administration
sometimes sends warning letters to people caught doing it. The agency gives its
employees discretion to permit imports of drugs that violate its restrictions so
long as they are intended for personal use.
The House approved, 363-12, an amendment to an FDA
appropriations bill that would prevent the agency from enforcing the importation
ban, so long as the drugs are for personal use. A second amendment, approved
370-12, would bar the agency from sending the warning letters. "People's lives
are being shortened today because of the abnormally high and ridiculously
increased price of prescriptions,'' said Rep. Tom Coburn, R-Okla.
Because of cost controls, drugs can cost several times less in
Canada, Mexico and Europe than in the United States, leading some Americans to
buy their pharmaceuticals by mail order or else join bus trips across the border
to fill their prescriptions.
For example, Prilosec, a popular ulcer medication, costs $400
for 100 capsules in New York but $184 in Canada and $107 in Mexico, said Rep.
Joseph Crowley, D-N.Y.
"Prescription drugs and medicines are not a luxury, they are a
necessity,'' added Crowley.
High drug prices have emerged as a significant issue in this
year's political campaigns. Polling indicates the issue of prescription drugs is
a priority for Americans 65 and older, a group that accounted for more than
one-quarter of voters in the 1998 elections and is regarded as a key swing group
in the fall campaign.
Republicans pushed a bill through the House last month that
would use private insurance and federal subsidies to cover some of the cost of
prescription drugs for senior citizens.
President Clinton has threatened to veto the legislation. He
and congressional Democrats are advocating a more encompassing but also costlier
alternative: a uniform, government-run prescription drug benefit, offered to all
39 million elderly and disabled Medicare beneficiaries.
FDA spokesman Lawrence Bachorik
said the agency is concerned that the House legislation could undermine its
"ability to protect consumers and patients from substandard, poorly manufactured
or otherwise risky drugs.''
"The FDA stands ready to work with Congress on these issues,''
he added.
The bill is H.R.4461.
See: Food and Drug Administration:
http://
www.fda.gov/
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