Bush Aides: Drug Import Bill Could Cost U.S. Jobs

[denverbill]

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=615&e=9&u=/nm/20040427/pl_nm/trade_pharmaceuticals_usa_dc

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Bush administration warned Congress on Tuesday that legislation to allow Americans to legally import cheaper prescription drugs would lead to U.S. jobs losses in the pharmaceutical sector.



U.S. Commerce Undersecretary Grant Aldonas told a Senate panel that drug manufacturers could pull out of the United States if Congress allows consumers to import medicines from countries, such as Canada, where price controls are in place.


"There will be disinvestment in the United States, a loss of employment opportunities and frankly a loss of an industry that is a huge multiplier" in terms of benefits to the overall U.S. economy, Aldonas said.

<snip>

Oh, look. The same administration that sang the praises of outsourcing computer jobs is suddenly going all protectionist on drug industry jobs. Or, could it be that the drug companies know they are fighting a losing battle on this issue and are throwing out the 'job loss' argument as a last-chance desperate ploy?

[judge_smales]

1. But

the drugs that we'll be importing will still be made here. They just have to be shipped to Canada or the UK, and then back, so that we can afford them.

(How F'ed up is that?)

[maddezmom]

3. that is f'ed up?

:crazy:

[KittyWampus]

7. The Only "Cost" Will Be Drug Company Profits

senior citizens understand that.

[movonne]

2. I wish they would go "F" them selves..and some will believe this.

[Beetwasher]

4. Gee, NOW Their Concerned About Job Losses?

:eyes:

[denverbill]

6. My reaction exactly!

They could give a damn about 3,000,000 IT jobs being outsourced to India. It's 'good for America' to outsource millions of manufacturing jobs to China.

But god forbid we allow Americans to buy cheaper drugs from Canada, cause THAT will cause job losses which apparently would be bad in this one case.

[dusty64]

16. It certainly would be

bad for their corporate masters. When are the mentally lazy People going to wake up and smell the shit. Its beyond ridiculous.

[Spazito]

5. What world do they live in????

It's perfectly fine to "outsource" jobs to India, etc, but try to provide drugs at a reasonable cost is not okay?

(Just to note, we are not profiting, as a whole, by these purchases because the US pharmaceutical companies are now restricting the amount we can purchase from them and trying to force up the price to us but I support the critical moral right for drugs at a reasonable cost and applaud those states that are looking after their citizens)

[74dodgedart]

8. Ever notice how CEO's are scared of free markets and competiton ?

[Cocoa]

9. does he care about jobs, or the pharm industry?

gee, that's a toughie... :think:

[cap]

10. big pharma is laying off anyhow...

they're outsourcing as much as they can overseas...

The only thing slowing them down is FDA approval.

[denverbill]

12. Well, it is a little tough for them to bitch about the safety

of drugs reimported from Canada, when they are manufacturing the drugs in China, where health and safety standards are lower than virtually any country on earth.

[Bridget Burke]

11. Pharmaceuticals are not Outsourcing "virgins'

They've been sending jobs overseas for years now. Some R&D, lots of manufacturing. Many of the "Canadian" drugs are made in Ireland--then shipped to the USA & Canada.

There are too many sources online for a quick summary of the situation; worth serious study.

[whosinpower]

13. If the US gov. was really concerned with high drug costs

They would do what Canada has done - they would regulate the industry.
It is really funny the way they paint this picture that somehow Canadian drugs are cheap imports. Canada has strict pricing regulations that require companies to adhere to. The patent laws in Canada are different as well. The drugs in Canada are imported from the USA. People - they are the SAME drugs. The only difference is that in order for the companies to have access to the Canadian market, they must follow regulations.

Importing drugs from Canada is still really only a stopgap measure. Full responsibility would be to ensure that the pharmacuetical companies adhere to strict pricing regulations. They currently spend upwards of BILLIONS of advertising dollars alone to promote their drugs....and most of the time, research and development is subsidized by the taxpayer. It is high time that this be taken into account when pricing drugs.

[Trillo]

14. Why not Mexico, too?

Until 9/11, the importation of medicine from Mexico was legal for personal use. After 9/11, the Border Patrol stopped allowing it.

When I learned of this, first hand, it really impressed upon me that the war on Terror was really about protecting "owned" markets as much as anything else.

According to this article, the only importation that will be allowed is from "approved industrialized countries." Mexico is never mentioned in any of the various articles about this issue.

[The_Casual_Observer]

15. Durg safety issue didn't fly so this is just the next excuse

A convoluted economic case can be made either way for any policy.