Reid ‘Guarantees’ Action on Prescription Drug Reimportation Ban

[ProSense]

Reid ‘Guarantees’ Action on Prescription Drug Reimportation Ban

By Mike Lillis 9/22/09 4:35 PM Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) vowed Tuesday that the Senate this year will consider controversial legislation allowing Americans to buy their prescription drugs from abroad, where they sell for much less than they do domestically.

In a Sept. 22 letter to Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.), Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) and Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.), Reid promised that if the issue isn’t tackled during the debate over comprehensive health care reform, he “guarantee(s)” consideration of a free-standing bill “before the end of the year.”

Dorgan, McCain and Snowe are all sponsors of a bill allowing U.S.-licensed pharmacies to import FDA-approved medications from Canada, Europe, Australia, New Zealand and Japan. The Congressional Budget Office estimates the bill would save American consumers $50 billion over the next decade.

The proposal is popular with lawmakers on both sides of the aisle, but the pharmaceutical industry — arguing that the safety of importing drugs from abroad can’t be guaranteed — has had great success lobbying the proposal to death in recent years.

Indeed, despite the 30 co-sponsors lined up in support of the Dorgan-Snowe-McCain bill, Reid warned the lawmakers that passage “will not be easy.”

S.525
Title: A bill to amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act with respect to the importation of prescription drugs, and for other purposes.
Sponsor: Sen Dorgan, Byron L. (introduced 3/4/2009) Cosponsors (29)
Related Bills: H.R.1298, S.1232
Latest Major Action: 3/4/2009 Referred to Senate committee. Status: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
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COSPONSORS(29), ALPHABETICAL : (Sort: by date)

Sen Begich, Mark - 3/4/2009
Sen Bingaman, Jeff - 3/4/2009
Sen Boxer, Barbara - 5/7/2009
Sen Brown, Sherrod - 3/4/2009
Sen Casey, Robert P., Jr. - 3/4/2009
Sen Collins, Susan M. - 3/4/2009
Sen Conrad, Kent - 3/23/2009
Sen Durbin, Richard - 3/4/2009
Sen Feingold, Russell D. - 3/4/2009
Sen Grassley, Chuck - 3/4/2009
Sen Inouye, Daniel K. - 3/4/2009
Sen Johnson, Tim - 3/4/2009
Sen Kennedy, Edward M. - 3/4/2009
Sen Kerry, John F. - 3/4/2009
Sen Klobuchar, Amy - 3/17/2009
Sen Kohl, Herb - 3/4/2009
Sen Leahy, Patrick J. - 3/4/2009
Sen Levin, Carl - 3/4/2009
Sen Lincoln, Blanche L. - 7/14/2009
Sen McCain, John - 3/4/2009
Sen McCaskill, Claire - 3/4/2009
Sen Nelson, Bill - 3/4/2009
Sen Sanders, Bernard - 3/4/2009
Sen Shaheen, Jeanne - 3/4/2009
Sen Snowe, Olympia J. - 3/4/2009
Sen Specter, Arlen - 3/17/2009
Sen Stabenow, Debbie - 3/4/2009
Sen Tester, Jon - 3/4/2009
Sen Thune, John - 3/4/2009

[eleny]

1. K&R with hope

:kick:

[Thrill]

2. How can it not be easy with that many Republicans as co sponsors?

They would mean the liberals are against it

[ProSense]

3. Not likely.

All the liberals in the Senate are already sponsors.

[Thrill]

4. Well there are several Conservadems on that list too

so Reid's statement doesn't make any sense. That list includes people you would never think would be voting together. Who is voting against it??

[ProSense]

7. It will pass. n/t

[karynnj]

5. Not surprising that both of our NJ Senators are not here - likely too many drug companies here nt

[ProSense]

6. I hope they support it. n/t

[Canuckistanian]

8. I really don't understand this

Why the controversy over drug re-importaion?

Why not just do away with Medicare Part D, which is the SOLE REASON preventing mass discount buys of drugs?

Hey, we up in Canada LOVE your business at our border pharmacies and online drug providers, but why not cut us off entirely?

Do you ENJOY paying more for dugs?

[jeanpalmer]

9. This applies to pharmacies

but what about individuals ordering directly from Canada. I thought part of Obama's alleged agreement with big Pharma was that importation of drugs would not be allowed. Never did see whom that prohibition would be applicable to (individuals, or pharmacies?).

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

10. Or we could allow medicare to negotiate in the first place.

:think:

[ProSense]

11. It's not an either or. It's funny how this is the greatest thing when the headline is

Leading Dem Plans To Blow Up Deal With Big Pharma

One has nothing to do with the other. Nelson plans on bringing the Medicare bill that failed in the Finance Committee to the Senate floor.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

13. It's not an "either/or" but it's 1 step or 2 steps.

Re-importation is 2 steps.
Direct negotiation is 1 step.


:think:

[quakerboy]

12. That is reverse sexism

Now we all have to buy our medicines from a broad? That is not the america that people from all over the world flea to for succor from the torments of socialism, if the free market will bear male medical dispensaries, then why cant the people have them? this is another sign of the decay of us civilisation. next they will insist we can only go to them homosexual Dr's(and theres not enough of them, so people will be dying in the streat), and that our children can only have male wetnurses. What is this world coming to? thank god for the second ammendment