Boston M.A.  -  This week, Governor Rod Blagojevich (D-IL) released a study showing that purchasing drugs from Canada for state employees and retirees can save $91 million dollars a year - savings that will be felt by all Illinois taxpayers.  This study validates what millions of Americans already know - that taking advantage of world market prices for prescription drugs saves money.

 

U.S. Representatives Dan Burton (R-IN), Gil Gutknecht (R-MN), Rahm Emanuel (D-IL), Jo Ann Emerson (R-MO), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Barney Frank (D-MA), Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), John Tierney (D-MA), Martin Meehan (D-MA) and Stephen Lynch (D-MA) convened a Congressional Field Forum on the issue of prescription drug market access.  Joining the Members of Congress were local government officials, including Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty, and other pharmaceutical market access experts.

On July 25, 2003, the U.S. House of Representatives responded to seniors’ pleas for relief from high priced prescription drugs by overwhelmingly passing “The Pharmaceutical Market Access Act” (H.R. 2427).  “The Pharmaceutical Market Access Act,” a tri-partisan bill with broad-based support, is designed to allow American consumers the right to purchase affordable, FDA-approved prescription drugs from FDA-approved facilities in Canada and 24 other industrialized nations.  Despite an intense lobbying effort by the pharmaceutical industry, the bill passed by a convincing 243-186 margin.

 

“Currently, Americans pay 5 to 10 times as much for their prescription drugs than do citizens in Canada, Germany and many other industrialized parts of the world,” stated Congressman Burton.  “For instance, women who are suffering from breast cancer and are taking Tomoxifen to save their lives pay $134 for a 30-day supply in my home state of Indiana and up to $360 in other parts of the United States, while in Germany they pay just $60, and in Canada they pay only $33 for the very same product.  Not only is that outrageous, it is just plain wrong.  I have held four hearing in my capacity as Chairman of the House Government Reform Subcommittee on Human Rights and Wellness regarding the safety and efficacy of imported pharmaceuticals.  Despite clinging to claims of the dangers of counterfeit and misbranded drugs, the pharmaceutical industry as well as the FDA have been unable to cite a single incident of adverse health reactions caused by Canadian imported FDA-approved prescription drugs.” 

 

“The status quo is unacceptable,” Gutknecht added.  “Ronald Reagan said, ‘Markets are more powerful than armies.’  It’s time to open markets so that all Americans have access to world-class drugs at world market prices.  In July, the House stood with American seniors, moms and dads and small business people.  Now it’s time for both houses of Congress to stand together – to tell the American people that we are working for them.  When we adjourn in a couple weeks, we’ll have to answer to our constituents.  And they’ll ask us if we stood with ordinary folks who are trying to access affordable pharmaceuticals, or if we stood with the big pharmaceutical companies.  As you look at the group of assembled leaders here today, you’ll see that this isn’t an issue of right versus left, it’s an issue of right versus wrong.”

 

“Of the estimated $1.8 trillion Americans are expected to spend on prescription drugs over the next ten years, a policy of market access could save $630 billion,” Emerson said.  “Americans are the world’s best customers of prescription drugs, but we pay the world’s highest prices.  We also spend tens of millions in tax dollars every year on research and development of prescription drugs - for which we get little reimbursement from pharmaceutical companies.  The pharmaceutical companies get a dollar-for-dollar tax credit.  The pharmaceutical companies get a protected American market that shuts out competition and keeps prices artificially high.  What do American seniors get?  A very raw deal, and that’s about all.”

 

“We come here today with a common belief that drug prices in this country are too high, and a common commitment to keep working on this issue until we change that,” said Emanuel.  “Armed with the Illinois savings of $90 million, we can now provide the FDA with hard numbers and solid facts demonstrating that the safety concerns they raised in objection to Illinois’ interest in importing drugs from Canada are exaggerated and unfounded.  The potential savings available to cash-strapped states and struggling consumers obliges the FDA to stop protecting drug-makers’ profits and standing in the way of states that want to move forward with importation plans.”

 

Sanders said, "City by city and state by state, momentum continues to build.  As part of the growing national movement for prescription drug reimportation, mayors and governors from across the country are taking steps to enable their government employees and retirees to access the affordable prescription drug prices enjoyed by our neighbors in Canada.  These public officials think it is more important to keep teachers and police officers on the job than to squander taxpayer money to inflate the profits of the drug companies.  It is only a matter of time until the pharmaceutical companies stop trying to defend the indefensible and realize that they can no longer keep charging Americans the highest prices in the world for prescription drugs."

“It is unconscionable that seniors in the United States pay more for their prescription drugs than do their counterparts in every other industrialized nation in the world,” said Congressman Tierney. “Now, the big drug companies have announced they are curtailing the amount of prescription drugs they import Canada in order to put a stop to the practice of re-importation but they refuse to offer any solutions that would cut prices to make medications more affordable for seniors here in the United States.  Congress should condition current taxpayer subsidies on the willingness of the drug companies to lower their prices or we must allow our constituents to take advantage of markets where others have had the courage to stand up to the pharmaceutical industry.”

 

“Make no mistake, safety is not the issue here,” said Congresswoman DeLauro.  “The issue here is price.  Anyone who relies on prescription drugs acutely understands that skyrocketing prices are totally out of control.  The drug companies will tell you that if reimportation becomes law and prices come down, research and development will suffer.  These are the same drug companies that are putting more than twice as much of their revenues into advertising as they are into research and development.  We can not continue to allow pharmaceutical companies to profit at the expense of seniors and ordinary Americans.” 

 

Concluded Congressman Meehan, “Americans shouldn't have to jump through hoops simply to get the prescription drugs they need at prices they can afford.  National spending on prescription drugs has skyrocketed over the past few years, and our seniors are bearing the brunt of the burden. The Congressional Budget Office estimates a $40 billion savings in drug spending if the FDA would act on the reimportation bill that passed in July.  Unfortunately, the FDA appears to be more interested in finding excuses to bar imports than in resolving legitimate safety concerns.”