Did Obama Admin crush low-priced drug imports? David Sirota

[donco6]

Case in point is the comment the pharmaceutical industry recently let fly in the Washington Post. The newspaper this week examined how the Obama administration crushed legislation that would have allowed Americans to purchase lower-priced FDA-approved medicines from abroad - legislation that President Obama promised to support as a presidential candidate; legislation that would have reduced drug profiteering and saved the government and consumers $100 billion.


Drug companies already manufacture medicines in the developing world so as to evade U.S. labor, environmental and safety regulations. They then legally import those products for sale to Americans at inflated prices. The new bill would have merely let wholesalers, not just manufacturers, also import medicines - but at the lower prices the manufacturers concurrently sell those medicines abroad. So two questions: If the administration actually believes importation is unsafe, why isn't it banning current drug imports? And if the administration specifically insists wholesale importation is unsafe, then where are the dead Europeans?

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/12/18/EDBO1B5SGT.DTL#ixzz0aFkbYgS8

Sirota goes on to question why Obama's admin would pressure the FDA to issue these bogus "safety warnings" about imported drugs, when we already use them and so does Europe. Are we banning all imports now? Hmmm . . .

Remember George W. and "gotta make sure these drugs aren't gonna kill ya!" ?



http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/12/18/EDBO1B5SGT.DTL

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

1. This article is quite clear that it was the White House that killed re-importation

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/12/15/doughnuts-for-dorgan-drug_n_393527.html

It names names who clearly say it was the White House.

[Libertas1776]

2. Does somebody want to tell me

who the fuck I voted for?!!!

[Karmadillo]

3. The serfs are so cute when they get angry.

nt

[G_j]

18. yea, I think they got us mixed up w/ Smurfs nt

[laughingliberal]

4. You know, I dream of a world where our elected official are more than middle men for the

corporate powers. Sadly, we're going further in the wrong direction.

[tbyg52]

6. That's the worst part, to me

All this talk about how much he was raising from the serfs, a new style of campaign financing. Guess it wasn't enough.....

Edited for inevitable stupid typo.

[laughingliberal]

8. I know, even pooling our resources, we can't afford our very own President

How could we, the upper 1% have around 90% of the money. And they ain't giving it back.

[CrispyQ]

5. If the administration is so concerned for our safety,

then where's the bill regulating what's imported from China? Deadly pet food, toxic toothpaste, contaminated drywall, oh my!

[snagglepuss]

10. Bingo . nt

[donco6]

13. That stuff is all fair game, I guess.

After all, Wal Mart is the largest importer, and you don't think they own a huge chunk of Congress?

[saracat]

7. Just yesterday I was informed by an apologist that this was all lies.Sen. Dorgen was lying

when he made his statesmnets as was David Gergen. I was supposed to trust a internet blogger who was excited to receive a call from the WH and who swallowed message control in her excitement. I now take a drug that was one of the most widely available in the world has been manufactered for many, many years, and was first pulled off the US market after many years of successful use, and is now available only in other countries.The shortages in the US are a disgace and due to a buyout.Yet I am not allowed to order drugs from Europe or Canda where they still make it! My doctor says she is not allowed to write a percription to a Canadian Pharmacy.I have to have the drug created for me by a compounding center, who is also being inudated with orders for this and other drugs. If I use my insurance it costs twice as much as if I pay out of pocket!

I have said all along that even if we fixed HCR, which we are NOT doing, as long as we couldn't afford to pay for the medication necessary to treat our various conditions, what was the point? Nothing would be accomplished.This bill and the deal that accomplished it, leave us way worse off than ever before, and I am beginning the hate ALL the F****ers in DC, starting with the WH.

[laughingliberal]

9. I'm guessing Armour Thyroid? Just a guess. I know there's quite a few drugs in this limbo

It's criminal. I worked with Medicare patients for years before Medicare part D. It was always a horrible situation. They could go to the doctor and all but couldn't buy the medications the doctor prescribed which I call an exercise in futility. Medicare part D was a help to some but we set it up to keep the costs to Medicare exhorbitant and the drug company profits high.

[saracat]

11. Bingo. And my wonderful Blue Cross/Blue Sheild for which I pay $1200

amonth would actually charge me "double" for using my insurance! I am too young for medicare and both of us are unemployed, hubby for years now due to job exportation, and no matter what happens, we are going to continue to pay through the nose.I literally have no thyroid due to radiation treatment for Graves that they went overboard on and cannot take synthroid. It is next to worthless!

I have other meds that I am not taking properly because I can't afford to.This whole situation is abominable.And the rates for emergency rooms are beyond belief. I cut my hand a bit ago and with my wonderful insurance ended up going to one of those walk in places because it would have cost the earth to use the BC. And now all of us will be "mandated" to continue this existence.

I injured my foot recently and decided to do nothing because I couln't afford to and just used crtuches I had and hoped I didn't break anything.

[laughingliberal]

12. Yeah, Big Pharma's been after Armour here for years. Wants to force everyone to take

their synthetic crap that only treats the lab report. Sounds like your situation is a lot like ours. I'm out of a job for 2 years. Husband's business is in the toilet due to housing market crash. We still get some jobs into our shop but, basically, gas and grocery money. When I first lost my job (I was covering us through my job) our COBRA was $1200 also. It was beyond us but he had just been diagnosed with prostate cancer (an aggressive form). We scraped it up and took money on a credit line and everything we could to hang onto it just long enough to get him treated. His doctor was convinced that there was close to 100% chance he will not have a return of the cancer. We hope not. We had to drop the insurance so no way to get follow up testing.

And now they try to sell us this plan which enshrines the worst abuses of the industry with little to offset the negatives.

[saracat]

14. And there are folks that think we are selfish not to be grateful for this crap!

[mrmpa]

15. I met a man once

He told me that he had gone on a vacation in Mexico. He forgot one of his prescriptions. He went to a pharmacy that contacted his US pharmacy for the information needed to fill his script. Knowing that the phrmacy wouldn't accept his insurance, therefore not accepting his $25 copay, he went back to the pharmacy figuring he would have to pay at least $100. The pharmacist handed the prescription to him and when asked how much it was, the pharmacist said $5. The traveller was shocked and when he asked the pharmacist why so cheap? The answer "you pay in America, so we get it cheap here." Basically, we in the US pay inflated prices, even at $5 in Mexico the pharmacutical company is making money.

[donco6]

16. So how do the sychophants stand on this one d'ya suppose?

They're oddly silent

[girl gone mad]

17. It's for our own good, doncha know?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=7282261&mesg_id=7282592

Get it?

As long as corporations are taking a sizable cut, drug importation from China is just dandy. As soon as American consumers attempt to cut out the corporate middle men, the government has to step in to protect us.

Our government is quickly becoming little more than a protection racket for the multi-national megacorps.

[WT Fuheck]

19. The only reasonable conclusion left is that the White House is home to bastards

who hate us.

[walldude]

20. Axelrod was on Meet The Press this morning

Talking about how they are all for re-importation. Just as soon as they put the money together to make sure those drugs that the rest of the world are taking are actually safe for us.