Senate weighs drug imports amid veto threat
Last Updated: 2007-05-04 13:00:24 -0400 (Reuters Health)
By Lisa Richwine
WASHINGTON - U.S. senators will return to a prescription drug safety bill on Monday and consider a drug importation measure that the pharmaceutical industry opposes and the White House has threatened to veto.
The legislation is meant to bolster government oversight of prescription-drug side effects, and would also increase drug and medical device maker fees that help fund product reviews.
But several senators want to attach amendments, including one that would allow Americans to legally import cheaper prescription drugs from Canada and other countries.
The Senate voted 63-28 on Thursday on a procedural motion that would allow consideration of the importation amendment, written by North Dakota Democrat Byron Dorgan.
Backers said importation could help patients save money. Dorgan said it was unfair that drugmakers charged Americans more for the same medicines that can be bought cheaper in other countries.
"That's my beef. Their pricing policies are wrong," said Dorgan, who introduced the measure and has been pushing the issue for years.
But Republican Sen. Thad Cochran of Mississippi moved to require that health officials certify imported drugs would be safe before the practice would be allowed.
Republican and Democratic health secretaries have refused to do so in the past, and importation supporters said adopting Cochran's approach would kill their effort.
The Bush administration, meanwhile, has threatened a presidential veto of the entire bill if it includes an importation provision that fails to address concerns that medicines bought from other countries could be dangerous.
Many Americans already have bought medicines from abroad, often through Internet pharmacies, even though the practice is illegal.
Opponents said patients would have no assurance that medicines bought overseas would be safe and effective.
The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, an industry group, said importation could "make patients vulnerable to the soaring epidemic of counterfeits around the world" and there were safer ways to help patients afford medicines.
Dorgan and other supporters said their plan included safeguards. Only drugs with FDA approval could be imported, and Congress would provide money for regulators to make sure the medicines and manufacturing plants met agency standards, they said.
Senators had hoped to complete work on the bill this week. But Sen. Edward Kennedy, a Massachusetts Democrat and one of the bill's authors, said behind-the-scene negotiations were ongoing.
Sen. Mike Enzi, a Wyoming Republican and the bill's co-author, said Senate deliberations may continue through next Thursday.
The bill is expected to pass the Senate but will need to be merged with similar legislation planned in the House of Representatives.
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