July 19, 2009
edrugsearch.com
When the winner in a Monday Night Football game became obvious in the fourth quarter, ’70s color commentator Don Meredith used to warble, “Turn out the lights, the party’s over, we know that all good things must end…”
I’m afraid it may be time to turn out the lights — perhaps forever — on legalized drug reimportation.
I hate to sound so dire, and I know that a small, bipartisan group of legislators, including Sen. David Vitter, is working hard to keep reimportation on the negotiating table as Congress prepares to pass sweeping healthcare reform legislation.
But I just don’t think the good guys are going to win this one. No matter what President Obama ends up signing into law on healthcare, I’m 95 percent sure it won’t include allowing American consumers to legally purchase prescription drugs from Canada.
It’s maddening when you think about it. Since reimportation became a public policy issue in the late 1990s, polls have consistently shown that between 70 and 80 percent of Americans want the right to buy from Canadian pharmacies.
Bill Clinton, Al Gore, George W. Bush, John Kerry, Ron Paul, John McCain and Obama (among others) have all spoken in favor of reimportation at various times (generally during their presidential campaigns). Congress has had a reimportation bill put before it virtually every session; it has even passed Congress before, only not to be implemented because of an administrative loophole in the legislation.
It’s the most blatant example of politicians willfully deflecting the desires of the American people I can think of in the past 20 years, if not longer.
I feel silly now that as recently as March, I was confident that this time would be different.
So, why is the will of the people being deferred again — and perhaps defeated once and for all?
As the Wall Street Journal put it in an article last week on proposed healthcare reform legislation:
Drug Makers Score Early Wins as Plan Takes Shape
The pharmaceuticals industry, which President Barack Obama promised to “take on” during his campaign, is winning most of what it wants in the health-care overhaul.
The final contours of the legislation are far from settled, but the industry, led by a onetime powerful congressman, has notched a string of victories. Legislation expected soon in the powerful Senate Finance Committee will leave out cost-cutting steps as part of an agreement with the industry and the White House, according to Congressional aides, industry lobbyists and others involved in the talks.
The missing items include two planks of Mr. Obama’s campaign platform: allowing cheaper drugs to be imported from Canada and giving the federal government the right to negotiate Medicare drug prices directly with pharmaceutical companies…
“This is the best year the drug industry has had in decades,” said Nancy LeaMond of AARP, the seniors’ lobby, which is seeking greater price-cutting on drugs.
Source: http://www.edrugsearch.com/edsblog/say-goodbye-to-the-drug-reimportation-bill/#more-2135.html#